We have gotten to the point with our chickens we allow them to go wherever they please. This was fine in the winter when things were dormant and the flowerbeds were empty. With spring fast approaching we are questioning what we are going to do with them. One group has a small backyard on their coop. I’m in hopes of planting them a garden back there and beginning to let them out on it instead of giving them free rein of the property. The other group of chickens used to stay primarily in the sheep lots, but have now gotten pretty daring and end up in the front yard, front flower beds, and strawberry beds daily.
This is just a taste of what our front step looks like after the little birds have had their way with our flower beds. Not fun to come home to. We appreaciate their help in turning the soil and bug control, but once seeds and new plants go in the ground they may be on lockdown for awhile.
We bought stakes over the weekend to stake chicken wire over new seedlings trying to come up. We will see if this deters them or not. They may all need to be moved into the coop with the backyard. We are just hesitant to try this because it will mean mixing our Bantam rooster (just a little guy) with our Rhode Island rooster (a really big guy). This will be a last resort.
In the meantime, my broom is my friend and my evenings are spent uncovering the echinacea and black-eyed susans trying to come up in the front bed and recovering the roots of the strawberries growing in the box behind Cooter in the above photo. A small price to pay for fewer summer pests and some really yummy eggs.
A Simple Prairie Life 