How to Chicken Proof Your Garden

Thursday, July 4, 2019

Stop Your Chickens Eating Your Garden!

It’s a lovely clear winters day, the sun is out, the hellebores, polyanthus and pansies in your garden are in full bloom (we like a bit of colour this time of year!), the silver beet and broccoli are thriving, the kiwifruit are just waiting for you to pick and eat them straight from the vine and a cool breeze blows lightly over the autumn leaves – and carries something rather peculiar with it.

Cluck, Cluck

This time though, the clucking is the most relaxing noise you could imagine, turning this beautiful day into perfection. Your happy little flock of backyard chickens, happily clucking away in your beautiful garden, supplying you with fresh, tasty eggs every day.

Does this sound somewhat too good to be true? A beautiful garden with flowers, vegetables and even fruit that is not completely scratched and ruined from the chickens living in it? Is that even possible? Yes, it is! And we will tell you how you can make your dream of keeping chickens and still having a beautiful garden a reality.
It might require a little bit of planning, but with these tips, you and your chickens can enjoy a lovely, well cared for garden together.

Free Range Chickens or Secure Chicken Run?

The easiest way to keep your garden in a pristine condition is to keep your chickens in an enclosed area. With a spacious chicken run, you are able to keep the chickens in that area and they will not be able to dig up your precious vegetables. This however might not be an option for everyone due to the garden shape, size or sloped areas. It would then be best to offer the chickens a small secure run for the daytime and let them out to free range once you are back from work.

Garden Size

The most important thing to consider is how much room you have in your garden that you would like to offer to the chickens. That determines how many chickens you can keep, without the ladies taking over your garden entirely. The more space you can offer them, the less damage they will cause – their scratching will then not just affect a small area, instead they will be able to forage for food and scratch out mossy areas in your lawn as well as getting rid of pests like slugs, snails and caterpillars in a wider area, therefore not destroying the lawn but actually keeping it healthy. If you account for about 20 sqm per chicken in the garden, they will usually not cause much damage to the lawn.

Chicken Breed

Another important factor to consider is the breed of chicken you choose. Hybrids usually cause the most damage, as they are constantly looking for food and need a constant energy supply due to the demand of producing an egg almost every day. Hybrids are generally hardy birds that are easy for first time chicken keepers. However, a better choice for a beautiful garden are calm purebred heritage chickens.
Depending on what you look for in a chicken, and if the eggs are not the most important part of your chicken parenting journey, bantam breeds are generally very nice and docile birds to keep in the garden. Their small size alone often prevents them from doing too much damage. Cochins as well as Pekin Bantams and Silkies make lovely, friendly pets and are known to be fairly kind to your garden. Their eggs are generally very small. 2-3 eggs would usually make up the equivalent of one medium sized egg.

Securing flower beds and veggie plots

• Chickens love to dig up dry soil under bushes to then enjoy a lovely dustbath in the sheltered, shady area. Allow them to find their favourite spot, or plant some chicken friendly bushes in an area you are happy to devote to your chickens, and they will most likely not think about any other plants. A chicken spa like that will not only keep your girls feathers in beautiful condition but keep them in good spirits and happy moods.
• If that’s not an option, you could try to install raised beds in your garden. Most chickens don’t seem too interested in foraging for food above head level, so they tend to leave plants in raised planters alone for the most part and the plants can thrive in their beautiful wooden planters. Raised gardens make easy, back friendly gardening possible and more enjoyable.
• Omlet’s flexible chicken fencing comes with an inbuilt gate which features a newly redesigned catch that is stronger and more comfortable to use. You can also set the width of the gate opening to your preferred size making it easy to get in and out to feed your chickens. Another great feature of the gate is that you can position it wherever you want within the layout you have chosen, you can put it at any end, the middle or anywhere else. The width of the gate opening can also be adjusted to suit. With an overall height of 1.25m, (which is taller than most chicken fencing), you can be confident that even the most determined of your feathered friends won’t make a great escape! The poles of the fence are also adjustable to ensure that the netting remains tight and secure at all times.
• Enclose your hens in an Omlet Walk In Chicken Run. Give your chickens more safe space in the garden with Omlet's Walk in Chicken Run - the chicken enclosure that can be customised to provide both brilliant exercise opportunities and amazing hentertainment!

Omlet Chicken Fencing with Wall Connection Kit

Omlet Walk In Chicken Run

Omlet Chicken Fencing with Wall Connection Kit

Offer a “chicken spa” area

Providing chickens with suitable areas for dust bathing is essential for their overall health and welfare. Chickens engage in dust bathing as a natural and instinctive behavior that serves several purposes for their well-being. It's a natural and enjoyable behavior that contributes to their physical and mental well-being.

Keep an eye on your chickens

The best and safest time for your chickens to free range is usually when you are with them in the garden and can keep an eye on them. This allows you to keep them from causing too much mischief by throwing a handful of tasty corn in an area as far away as possible from flowers and veggies. My lively bunch of ladies will then loudly proclaim their excitement and run to gather all the tasty treats. This will usually keep them preoccupied for at least 30 mins.