I opened up one of the covered, raised beds to see what, if anything was going on in there. Picked out a few weeds and left the glass door open. Still haven't decided what I'm going to put in there, but it really doesn't matter because approximately fifteen seconds after I left the general area, the chickens ran from all corners of the homestead and had taken over and made it their personal dust bath:
There are only three small raised beds in the front yard along with the Herb garden. And although I have somewhat chicken-proofed the Herb garden by placing rocks around every plant, the other raised beds must have something to keep the scratching biddies out of there. I've used plastic deer netting with some success in the past, but I'm not sure if the Giant Sloppy Dog will respect the fence or just plow right into it, over the beds, and on his merry way like he currently does sans netting. I LOVE the idea of putting up a rustic looking picket fence or one of those wattle fences, but I lack both the ambition and patience.
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| The Wattle Fence that I'd like to put up..... |
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| The Wattle Fence of my dreams..... |
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| The Wattle Fence, in reality. |
You might need a wire fence like what goes around large animals and put the deer netting on it as well to keep the birds out. I ended up just giving my chickens an area fenced in by the bird netting plastic stuff and have to patch holes once in awhile but it works good.
ReplyDeletereality wattle fence, lol.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn,
ReplyDeleteI love that fencing but it sure looks like a lot of work.
What if you placed the bird netting up on your garden boxes, and hang one of those plastic blowup birds inside so it sways with the wind. So it looks like a red tail hawk flying close by.
Now that's a pretty impressive wattle fence. It has a certain artistry. I dare any deer to hop over that.
ReplyDeleteUgh, chickens and gardens..... We just tilled our 80x40 garden bed this last week, and I have no idea how I'm gonna keep the birds out of it this year. The first year they just didn't go over there. Last year they ate ever stinking zucchini that came up. The wattle fences are a lovely idea, but I'm like you. Mine would come out looking like the last picture.
ReplyDeleteI pen my chickens up for gardening season. They are the destructors of all things green!!!!
ReplyDeleteLOL, the wattle fence. You can do it :)
Is there any way you can fence in a large "pasture" area for your chickens?
ReplyDeleteOurs are contained by 3' high electric fencing. Granted they have a HUGE area to roam in and never run out of bugs or worms or grass to eat, but they rarely go over the fence. I don't know how you can possibly garden (and keep your sanity) with the darn cluckers scratching up every plant you try to grow.
Crank up an electric fence to about a bizzilion amps and then string it about 6 inches off the ground.... Instant fried chicken :)
ReplyDeleteI would fence in those rascally chickens!
ReplyDeleteI let mine out into a larger area the other day and could not believe the deep holes they had scratched up by evening.