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How Do I Stop My Hens Eating My Geraniums ???

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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.

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:D 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 . :roll: 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 . :D
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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. :roll:

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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...!).

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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 :evil: . 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 :lol: .

 

Any ideas?

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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 . :cry: 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 !! :roll:

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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

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