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Barnyard Buddies:  dang chickens! help!  |
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Carolinagirl
True Blue Farmgirl
486 Posts
Kim
Rutherfordton
NC
USA
486 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 11 2007 : 1:51:17 PM
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Is there ANY way to keep the chickens from getting into the mulched beds around my screened porch? I have the mulch there to keep the red mud from splashing up on the porch when it rains. The chickens are kicking it all away from the porch... defeating my intended purpose.
Any ideas?
Thanks-
Kim in NC |
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windypines
True Blue Farmgirl
4286 Posts
Michele
Bruce
Wisconsin
USA
4286 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2007 : 03:50:36 AM
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| Short of keeping the chickens in, you would have to put up a fence around it. I have a flower bed in front of my coop, and in the winter time I put chicken wire on top of the dirt. That keeps them from taking dust baths in the winter, and wrecking it. Good luck Michele |
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Carolinagirl
True Blue Farmgirl
486 Posts
Kim
Rutherfordton
NC
USA
486 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2007 : 04:36:53 AM
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Thank Michele. That's exactly what they are doing- taking dust baths. And then they kick the dust back up onto the porch (reason for mulch being out there anyway). Maybe they'll ease up on it soon... they have an entire yard of dust to bathe in...
Kim in NC |
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babs
True Blue Farmgirl
226 Posts
Babette
MN
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2007 : 08:41:40 AM
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But they like to do it where the sun is hitting in the colder weather... and in the warmer months they'll do it in the shady areas.
Thats what I notice here anyway. Mine have two spots, one is infront of the railroad tie bed because they get really warm when the sun shines on it and that heat is transferred into the soil, and the other is in the shade of the silo.
So I suppose you could create for them a spot with railroad ties (or other heat absorbing material) and entice them over there with a litte feed or kitchen scraps.
Just a thought. :)
Babs
Hatching Eggs: www.countryegg.com
My Etsy Store: www.mugwortmaggies.com
Junque Trader: http://myjunqueyourjunque.blogspot.com/
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Mikki
True Blue Farmgirl
1510 Posts
Mikki
Austin
Indiana
USA
1510 Posts |
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Bee Haven Maven
True Blue Farmgirl
1862 Posts
Beverly
Pennsylvania
USA
1862 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2007 : 11:53:56 AM
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We solved our chicken problems by building them a " chicken tractor" It is a chicken-wire pen on a wooden frame that is about 2 1/2 feet tall, and maybe 15 X 15 that we can move all around the farm (it takes two of us to move or we pull it around with our tractor). Each day they have a new location to scratch around for bugs and also their droppings help to fertilize, but they are never in one spot long enough to be destructive.
Bev in PA
Bee Haven Farmstead |
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Carolinagirl
True Blue Farmgirl
486 Posts
Kim
Rutherfordton
NC
USA
486 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2007 : 1:24:31 PM
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Ours live in a chicken tractor too- only we let them out every afternoon. I feel sorry for them all caged up. :(
The beds they are destroying are right beside the house, and I'll bet the siding reflects the sun during the winter. In the summer, they did they dustbathing under the pine trees far away from the house.
Thanks everyone-
Kim in NC |
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Sweet Harvest Homestead
True Blue Farmgirl
279 Posts
Lindy
Stanfield
NC
USA
279 Posts |
Posted - Mar 14 2007 : 5:57:45 PM
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We have a chicken tractor too Kim. I felt sorry for mine and let them out as well but after they kept messing my pine straw mulch around my house up and they pooped on my front porch for the 4th time, the ladies had to go to the chicken tractor for good. I try to move the coop every week for fresh dirt and bugs. They seem pretty happy. I know I am much happier now that the chickens are not making constant messes. I have children to do that. Don't need 6 chickens joining them.
Haha!
Lindy
www.sweetharvesthomestead.typepad.com |
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Mar 17 2007 : 11:37:26 PM
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I love our chicken tractors. As much as I sure do love the chickens themselves, you're right that they can wreak havoc on anything green - especially this early in the season. If you're interested, a good book on it is, appropriately titled, "Chicken Tractor" by Andy Lee. There are also some great plans on the Internet. Mine are 4x8 feet, and they house around 6-8 chickens in each one if the "tractors" are moved each day. It's great!
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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livelife
Farmgirl in Training
45 Posts
Penny
Michigan
USA
45 Posts |
Posted - Mar 20 2007 : 1:24:58 PM
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Its so funny I was just talkin to hubby about chicken tractors... (He gave me one of those no clue looks)
Kim I feel the irritation from here!!! Many times I thought I would strangle those short little creatures after they have destroyed a new seed bed or costly perennials, even though its totally my fault for not clipping the feathers. So I vowed to build a chicken tractor this year so they can roam a bit more. I would like to see the ones you all have built... Pictures????
In His presence |
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Barnyard Buddies: dang chickens! help! |
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dang chickens! help!
