However, chickens can also wreak major havoc. r/BackYardChickens: Interesting stuff for the small flock community and the humane big flock community. An aggressive chicken can scratch smaller stones out... 4. How to Repel Chickens. Chickens working over the compost pile sounds like a good thing. Protecting your garden. With the chickens right next to the garden I can toss veggies over the fence for them and they come running. They eat the bugs and slugs that would otherwise feast on your flowers and vegetables. The solution I worked out is just past its first year, and so far works great. I’d caution anyone about allowing chickens in the garden unsupervised. Before you plant the garden, you could confine your chickens in a tractor or with electric net over the area, then move them out when you start your garden. Are they destroying your plants? How can backyard chickens help my garden? Check out hardware cloth. This handbook provides an introduction to key aspects of raising and breeding chickens. Most hens are finished laying eggs by 10 a.m. You could also free range your birds, while protecting your garden and other areas you don’t want them. Fertilizer. Deciding which methods to implement in your garden, and when, depends on the situation, severity of the problem, and your personal preferences. If you feed hens eggshells for calcium, smash them to a powder so the chickens don't associate them with the eggs. If you've ever had free-range chickens wreak havoc on your yard or garden, you know how much damage they can inflict in a short period of time. 3. Even if the breed is a sufficient flyer - a barrier acts as a great deterrent. Collect eggs early. Poultry fencing, portable  electric fencing and dense hedges - putting a barrier between your garden and your chickens is a fairly surefire way to keep your garden safe (unless the breed is an egg-ceptional flyer). Physical barriers are okay for a whole bed or larger trees but trying to stop chickens scratching around smaller plants where they free range is another problem. Chickens allowed to free range in your Garden Keep an eye on your flock, Foxes get hungry. These chicken may have "discovered" your garden as a part of their "range". Out of instinct, a chicken scratches the ground repeatedly with its feet in search of scrumptious insects. Chicken wire is your friend. We've already covered things to look out for in the Vegetable Garden (see Chickens and the Vegetable Patch), so now we'll have a look at the general garden. They won’t mean to, but can really destroy your crops. Some say chickens won’t like the feeling of the rocks on their feet so this may deter them, but only a real-world test will provide the proof you need- as I’m sure you know, it’s difficult to stop a determined chicken, to the point where some will hurt themselves to gain access to … Keeping chickens is a wonderful way to ensure that your family always has enough eggs to eat. When you are finished your garden will be ringed with chicken wire and that should keep the chicks out. Many chicken owners prefer to have them wander free range, at least part of the time. I use 3 or 4 old bricks placed around the base of the plants so that the chickens cannot scratch too close to the plant. How to Chicken-Proof Your Garden 1. Want your chickens to stop getting in the garden? Collecting eggs early in the day leaves less time for breakage and egg eating. A: Charles and Jen … First of all, I’ve only had chickens for a year and it’s been fun journaling my experience on this site, but when a seasoned chicken keeper like Charles asks how to keep his chickens from eating his tomatoes, it makes me wonder if there is a way to keep the girls from devouring our vegetables or destroying our flowers. If you’re keeping your chickens in a chicken tractor–a chicken tractor is a house your chickens sleep in that is light enough so you can move it around–you can plant your garden beds where the chicken tractor used to sit. Get serious with bricks and stones. Chicken poo is one of the best fertilizers for your garden. Chickens are wonderful creatures to have around your garden. A Guinea fowl from a "nearby" farm -- actually was not visible from my house and is/was located beyond a small woods and across a cornfield -- found my garden and used to come and make a big racket in the morning, but eventually it stopped. You don't say how big your garden is but maybe driving some wood stakes in the ground around the perimeter of the garden and then attaching chicken wire to the stakes. Here we get to the nitty-gritty. Consider these tips to keep them out - or to keep them in your garden without sacrificing your crops. Chickens need room to roam, however, which can cause problems for homeowners who have flower gardens. The things you really want to know, right?