Those of you that free range your birds, do they destroy your gardens? I would like to free range mine but worried that they'll eat every bud off my plants and most likely pick at my beans and other veggies as well. Is this a problem with your birds? How do you overcome this issue?
Post by adksasquatch on May 29, 2012 19:35:56 GMT -5
The garden is fenced, so the chickens stay out until let in after harvest. Predators can be an issue, but not bad so long as you put the birds to bed at night.
Catch Count Kill Count Beaver-1 Buck-0 Bobcat-0 Doe-1 Coyote-1 G. Sq.-9 Fisher-4 R. Sq.-18 Grey Fox-0 Grouse-1 Marten-0 Ringneck-0 Mink-0 Muskrat-0 Opossum-0 Otter-1 Raccoon-3 Red Fox-1 Skunk-2 Weasel-0
OH!!! yes that get in the garden they eat the plants and like to dust them self in the loose dirt.they also love to get into the wife's flower gardens not good. I have 10 acres of pasture that they could scratch in all they want but they always gotta go to the garden. I have a pretty good size fence in chicken yard so they just stay in there.once the veggies get bigger they dot seem to bother them as much.
Before I fenced my garden and clipped their wings, my hens would target my tomatos, eat em right off the plant. Also they liked my pepper plant leaves too. About the only thing they didn't mess with was my garlic plants and watermelons. But most the time they just got in there and dug holes where they dustbathed and scratched around, exposing roots.
Cam
Yea but what about the times I go through the drive thru and don't have pants on?---Maritimer
Sounds like the chickens won't be free ranging for a while. The garden is just too much work to have them trash it. One of these dyas I'll build a chicken tractor thingy so that'll help and be a bit of the best of both worlds.
I free ranged my chickens I have to say their favorite snack was the green beans (roll of the eyes!) They stripped all the leave from them... how they got the leaves at the top of the pole?? Wish I had seen that!! They loved to "bathe" in the dirt of the raised beds too.....not a very good set up for me!
When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change............ Wayne Dyer