Help in combining gardening with chicken keeping!

kayl

Last year was my first attempt at growing vegetables. I had moderate success with growing potatoes in bags, and greater success with about 6 pots of various kinds of lettuce.
I got 2 hens at the end of September, and they like nothing better that to stand on the edges of the pots and nibble the left over lettuce leaves. I am keen to expand my repetoire and planted onions in November. Initially the hens did dig up a few of them, but there has been none visible recently, and in fact the hens seem to be making quite a good jod of keeping that part of the garden weed free!
I would like to plant more potatoes, as well as leeks and parsnips, and more pots of lettuce and herbs. Do you think that I am wasting my time, as realistically there is no way that I can prevent the hens getting into that part of the garden? I had thought about covering the soil with the equivalnt of strawberry nets, but, fond as I am of my hens, they do not seem the brightest of birds, and I fear that they would simply walk across it, and get the net caught on their feet!
I should add that I intend to get another 2 hens in July!! :j
Anh advice would be appreciated

Lotus-eater

Chickens go well with growing veg, as long as you can keep the chickens exactly where you want them.
If you can't, then it's a waste of time, as they will dig up anything they want to.... which is everything.

lostinrates

kayl wrote: »

Last year was my first attempt at growing vegetables. I had moderate success with growing potatoes in bags, and greater success with about 6 pots of various kinds of lettuce.
I got 2 hens at the end of September, and they like nothing better that to stand on the edges of the pots and nibble the left over lettuce leaves. I am keen to expand my repetoire and planted onions in November. Initially the hens did dig up a few of them, but there has been none visible recently, and in fact the hens seem to be making quite a good jod of keeping that part of the garden weed free!
I would like to plant more potatoes, as well as leeks and parsnips, and more pots of lettuce and herbs. Do you think that I am wasting my time, as realistically there is no way that I can prevent the hens getting into that part of the garden? I had thought about covering the soil with the equivalnt of strawberry nets, but, fond as I am of my hens, they do not seem the brightest of birds, and I fear that they would simply walk across it, and get the net caught on their feet!
I should add that I intend to get another 2 hens in July!! :j
Anh advice would be appreciated

Whe we have freeranged our hens near veg this always happens. Last couple of years we had a chicken wire fence around the veg and it was fine...bash a few posts in and staple on the wire. Not particularly decorative but effective and not too expensive.

angelavdavis

I love my ex-battery chooks, but the first year I got them I learned to my cost that they will actually eat anything! They even massacred the garlic patch and clucked garlicky breath over me when I shooed them back into their run in disgust for ruining their fun! What they miraculously didn't eat completely, they trampled over and created lovely big dust baths in the centre of - completely wrecking the rest (although we did laugh too watching them dust bathing!)

I made cloches to fit my veggie borders which are a similar construction to the one that Lauren S's hubby made in this thread:

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=51492.0

But instead of plastic, I covered the cloche in envirofleece from gardening-naturally.com which allows water and light in, but keeps the chickens (and cabbage whites) off the plants. Don't forget though to prop it up on one side on bricks or remove it to allow pollinating insects in if necessary - you will need to keep the chooks away when you do.

This is the only method I have found fool(fowl)-proof. I fenced the crops off but they just flew over the top - even after I clipped their wings. The temptation was too much for them to resist!!!

Now they sit there looking at the crops growing under the cloches and moan... and moan... and moan....:rotfl: