tigerbunnyacres Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 Can anyone help with this as it causing me a huge amount of unhappiness! I have had my two girls for five weeks now and I love them dearly. However there is a problem in that OH has spent four years making the garden look nice and a lot of damage has already been done. We have compromised, they are only out free ranging when one of us is home so that cuts the amount of damage time down to about five hours a day, they have trashed all my pansies, eaten an entire fern (that was one of OH's favourites) and scratched up a few different grasses. Can anyone suggest any hardy plants or shrubs that chickens don't like? I don't want to leave them in their run all the time, but on the other hand I do see OH's point of view about the garden. Believe it or not I have been in tears over this (not like me at all!) Can anyone help?? Becky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 I would buy some Omlet netting or similar and protect the plants from the hens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickybaby Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 Hi Becky I know how you feel! I've given up on having the perfect garden although i'd rather have my hens than a perfect garden anyday! I've put in some largish shrubs and climbers and my hens don't seem to bother with them. They show a bit of interest initially but then once they realise they can't dig them up they get bored and go and do something equally annoying instead! They never go near my lavender bush so maybe that's a good one to plant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanchick Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 I agree with Egluntine - get some netting. We use it to confine our chooks to one corner of the garden so they can trash their corner without too much stress for us. They don't touch my hebes as they are too woody I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 I have a jungley garden with lots of bamboo's, grasses, ferns, palms and spikey stuff (see my gallery). My chooks do not touch these. I find they like my lobelia the most Apart from the grass which they peck on (which the dog ruined anyway) my garden is mostly intact! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CannyCat Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 Yes, if they free-range, you will have to replant your entire garden!!! Most importantly: in the winter, DONT let them free range anywhere you want to have lawn left in the spring. They will continue to eat/scratch it, and it wont grow back over the winter A list of plants my girls dont eat (you can't save them from their claws, however): Rosemary, Bay, Lavendar, Ivy (only the large kind - that little stuff you put in hanging baskets gets eaten), heather, thyme, anything too tall for them to reach Rule of thumb is, if we'd find it chewy, so would they. They like leafy things (grass, ferns...) but not tough plants (bay, rosemary...) xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minky Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 I fenced off my planted area, but after a while I thought I'd see how they were if they were allowed on there, and they've pretty much let it be even tho it contains ferns and heather and all kinds of nibbly bits. This might change tho as Hilda had totally ignored our raspberry bush (aside from sitting under it) but this last two weeks she's had a falling out with it and pecked at it like mad, tho I wonder if it's just cus she's seen me cutting it back. It seems to me once a plant gets to a certain size they tend to let it be, so go for big plants and don't let em near it till it's established! The most annoying thing is they couldn't care less about eating weeds until I start pulling em out, then they run up to they basket, snatch the weeds I've just removed and run off with 'em, dumping them around the garden once they're done - ARGH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieSB Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 I just got this brilliant DVD this weekend, which includes an entire 10 min or so segment on gardening with chickens -- the host walks you through her gorgeous and copious gardens and details all manner of plants that chickens won't touch (i.e., lavender). Most of the plant names went way over my head, but I'm sure your husband would know, as he's a keen gardener. And she gives a slew of tips on how to protect young plants, etc. The DVD is worth its weight in gold anyway, but I'm sure it will asuage your chicken-garden woes. You can get it via Amazon or directly from the Rural Affairs website: A Guide To Keeping Hens In Your Garden [DVD] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 We have bought 3ft green chicken wire and put that held in with canes around any areas or specific plants that we want to keep intact. We have 2 veg beds in the garden which are fenced off in this way and upto now it has been enough to discourage them. We only let ours out to free range when there is someone around to keep a vague eye on them because we do not trust our young cats to leave them alone, although I think that they are begining to realise that these birds bite back! I did not really bother with annuals in the unprotected areas this year and we now have beautifully cultivated soil between our large shrubs. Our run is on a thick layer of bark chippings which gives the girls plenty to do, they dig enormous holes eating bugs as they go and then have a good dust bathe ( better now we have had a dry period ). Therefore we do not feel bad about keeping them confined because when we lift the eglu and run off on a Saturday to fork over the chippings and clean out the eglu they spend most of their freedom rooting through the newly forked chippings! Another advantage of the chippings which we have contained with planks of wood ( as shown in the Omlet leaflet that comes with the chickens) is that the poo magically disappears! ( having said that the tree at the end of the run which is on a very slight slope has grown rather a lot this year!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 We've sacrificed a lawn and they freerange in that area. We moved them recently and re-seeded the lawn and it's growing like a weed! The lawn they're on is slowly dying and I rake it every week. You could create a run like on a stickie in this forum with a surface such as aubiose/wood chip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 I just got this brilliant DVD this weekend, which includes an entire 10 min or so segment on gardening with chickens -- the host walks you through her gorgeous and copious gardens and details all manner of plants that chickens won't touch (i.e., lavender). Most of the plant names went way over my head, but I'm sure your husband would know, as he's a keen gardener. And she gives a slew of tips on how to protect young plants, etc. The DVD is worth its weight in gold anyway, but I'm sure it will asuage your chicken-garden woes. You can get it via Amazon or directly from the Rural Affairs website: A Guide To Keeping Hens In Your Garden [DVD] There is an article by Francine Raymond in the July edition of Practical Poultry on this very subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieSB Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 There is an article by Francine Raymond in the July edition of Practical Poultry on this very subject. Ah -- and it is Francine Raymond, I believe, who is the host of the DVD! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 I've found that anything like bedding is chicken speak for food. They've left all my shrubs alone so next spring I'm going to refill my gaps with more shrubs rather than bedding. Also pots are lovely if you're a chook so I'm going to use those flower pouches so I can still have some annual colour but THEY CAN'T REACH IT!! They haven't relly eaten any of my herbs either, just soft plants and specially veg! These have all survivied - Wigela, Lavender, Ribes, Cotoneasters, Hardy Fuschias, Fatsia (castor oil plant) fruit trees, roses, Cistus, giant verbena stuff, bottle brush plant, lavatera and buddlea (?sp) So if I fill in all my gaps (and there are MANY, I have NO forget me nots left. not anywhere!!) with more similar stuff then hopefully they should leave them alone!! Mrs B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiltyhen Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 We have bought 3ft green chicken wire and put that held in with canes around any areas or specific plants that we want to keep intact. We have 2 veg beds in the garden which are fenced off in this way and upto now it has been enough to discourage them. I can't comment on keeping chickens out (as I am still waiting for my ex battery girls). However, I had to make my garden cat proof as Daisy thinks all gardening is designed to provide her with latrine facilties! I found canes a bit wobbly so to protect the veg beds I used the sort of frame that you see used for fruit cages. The Two Wests & Elliot company sell aluminum tubes (easy to cut with a hacksaw) and all the plastic joints and fixings so you can make it any shape and any size. I then used firm clematis netting attached with wire to the uprights so I can remove it to work on the beds. The uprights are just the right height to lean over for harvesting and you can drape netting over if necessary to keep wild birds etc out. Hopefully this will be hen proof too. Liz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 I can understand your sadness about the garden especially if you have put a lot into it. I suspect the answer is either a permanent section just for the chickens to roam in. Or planning the garden around them. My girls eat anything tender with young, new growth. Lobelia was stripped to stalks within minutes of planting so I decided to have no summer bedding at all. So far they have left my established shrubs and plants alone. Those with woody centres are OK but ones with low lying leaves get trampled on as the girls scratch the mud for bugs. So I have one woody fuchsia they leave alone, and one leafy fuchsia that they don't eat, but it is a bit trampled. Similar to what others have already said on this post, shrubs like my hebes, woody fuchsia, pelargoniums, lavender, choisya, potentilla, hypericum, rhododendrons, laurel, hydrangea, lavetera are all ok. The wire cones you buy in garden centres are around my penstemons (just to stop the chickens scratching the plant base and also helps with plant support). I find the geranium endressii (the one that spreads) gets both eaten and trampled but still looks ok. So I'm planning more of the round the garden next year. On the plus side, I have a border under an apple tree where nothing grows except the japonica anemones (that are taking over my garden) and weeds. The "girls" have scratched the earth around the japonica and there are no weeds at all, just dusty earth (oh and a dust bath or two!!!). So they are useful too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallina Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 I know exactly how you feel about your garden. I am afraid that chickens damage most young plants. The ones they can't eat, they dig up. The answer for me was to make a net pen on the grass. Mine get out for an hour or so a day, because I have to be with them every minute (foxes). I don't have a lot of grass; if they were let out for more hours, they would need more grass. They don't damage it: they improve it with their manure. You can't let them out much in the depth of winter when the grass isn't growing: but they tend to go quiet and huddle in the run then anyway, and I am too cold to go out and look after them. (I have been accepted to open in a group of gardens under the Yellow Book scheme next year, and I am sure it was the hens that did it for me: the NGS couple who make the decision were captivated by them! So it's not all bad.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 Congratulations Gallina....your garden is beautiful so it is well deserved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerbunnyacres Posted September 13, 2007 Author Share Posted September 13, 2007 Thank you all for your help and advice, this forum is so friendly! I have just been on to Amazon and ordered that DVD so hopefully I can mend some of the damage in OH's garden. Both my girls are laying now, Barbara took a week longer than Margot but I am so happy with them that I don't mind a bit of garden damage, although OH has worked so hard I can see his point. Some green fencing is next on the list for marital harmony! Becky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 Me too. That means they only have one left. Best be quick if you want it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
