jools+6 Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 THEY'VE FINISHED OFF THE TOMATO PLANTS AND THE GREEEN PEPPERS BUT I YHOUGHT THE GERANIUMS WERE SAFE !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 Could you turn your caps lock off? Ta muchly. The only way to stop hens eating a particular plant is to but a barrier such as netting of some sort between it and them, I'm afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 'Fraid they don't call it chicken wire for nothing My garden looks like a zoo at the moment with all my little wire enclosures protecting the plants But it's necessary for chickens and plants to live in harmony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 If it's tender and young, it's tasty ...... My establish shrubs are Ok. Larger plants survive a peck or two. My ground cover geraniums (can't remember what they are called, with the little flowers) are nibbled but survive enough to put on a bit of a show in the chicken enclosure. But the contrast with those in the non-chicken enclosure is a bit of a shock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyber Chook Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Spray the geraniums with Ukadex?!! (Seriously, has anyone tried this?!) Caroline PS Are they called Cranesbill, the ground cover geraniums, Katy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackiet Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Funnily enough my girls don't touch the geraniums, but you should see what used to be lobelia and fuschias All my young veg plants in grow bags are up on tables around the garden for precisely that reason! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jools+6 Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 thanks . the geraniums are gonners r.i.p. . yes my older shrubs are fine too as are chives and sage for some reason . they've had a go at the rosemary and lavender but nothing as bad as the green stumps that were the geraniums .. lol . that'll teach me to trust them ... strange it's taken them a month to bother even looking at the poor plants . as for putting them up on tables , they all had a group lesson in climbing garden furniture last monday night . knew i should've stepped in , too late now .. vandals . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbey Road Girl Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Mine have wiped out the bindweed to the point that I'm wishing (some of) it back. They have eaten themselves out of house and home when free-ranging. I'm trying to grow things in pots like chard especially for them and to protect some things I'd like to have for myself. On the positve side I have effectively reclaimed my garden and now have a blank slate on which to hopefully outwit them. Not easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissinuk Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Get some netting fence and either fence off the plants while they're out or keep them to an area with plants they can't destroy (like well established shrubs). I've just posted how to make cheaper fence at the link below (you could of course do it even cheaper with a few garden canes):- http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27677 Failing that I have raised beds and have covered them with trellis to keep the chooks and local cats off (they still stand on it though and try to destroy them...!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 My geraniums and sweet williams also went in one afternoon of munching, and the cheeky little wotsits keep going back to the tubs to see if I've planted any more for them yet . The chives are also no more and I've squirted washing up liquid on the sedum that all 6 of them were destroying yesterday. If it works, I'll let you know. I was thinking of heading for the chemist for bitter aloe - you know, the stuff people paint on their children's nails to stop them biting them. Has anyone tried this? Did it work? The sedum is just about to flower and I would really rather they left it alone, as it's the only decent thing in that particular bed. The veg bed is already netted off, as the scoffalots can eat a lettuce at world-record pace. Come the day it's an Olympic event, they'll give any plague of locusts a run for their money . Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jools+6 Posted July 1, 2008 Author Share Posted July 1, 2008 the geraniums were in pots on the patio steps so i couldn't really fence them off !! will just have to stop putting them there . for the first two weeks they were good as gold , now it's like they're eating machines !!! even the poor dog is starting to get wary of noising them up now and again incase they gang up on him ! they're like a gang of muggers . the other night i was cleaning the coop out , looked up and they were all in the conservatory watching t.v. !!! poor ollie ( the dog ) was too scared to chase them out !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keanie Bean Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 My garden has only just recovered after several months of them having their own enclosure. I was so desperate at one point as my garden had been left with NOTHING green in it at all. I had very few plats survive my chickens. I dont think anything short of chicken wire can prevent them eating it all I'm afraid. Sarah.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
