It is surprisingly easy to keep chickens out of garden spaces that house your vegetables, flowers, and crops. Whether the chickens are yours or not, they can create some damage when they go to areas where they should not be.

How to Keep Chickens Out of Garden

In order to keep chickens out of flower beds or even keep chickens out of your yard, you must learn to understand why they are there in the first place.

Today, we will be discussing how to easily keep chickens out of our garden and outdoor spaces, and how you can simply implement these methods successfully.

How To Keep Chickens Out of Garden Spaces

There are several ways to keep chickens out of the garden without fencing by driving them away you can use water by sprinkling, keep the ground covered, use wire cloth so they cannot transpass, and even use citrus peels so they get revolted.

– Water

Water is an excellent chicken repellent and deterrent. If you happen to see chickens entering your garden, spray them with water. This can cause them to scurry away quickly and if you do this consistently, they will be trained to keep away from these areas.

However, you may not have the time to constantly guard your outdoor spaces. To counter this concern, you may opt to use motion-activated water sprinklers. The sensors will detect chickens and other unwanted visitors and immediately spray them with water, effectively scaring them off.

– Spices

Chickens do not enjoy the smell of strong spices, such as black pepper, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, curry powder, garlic, paprika, or even a blend of these spices. You can pick one or more and apply the spice or spice blend along the perimeter of your garden and around your plants.

Not only will the smell be quite offensive to the chickens, but the spices will also create an unpleasant sensation on their feet. This can cause them to flee from your garden.

– Citrus Peels

Keep chickens out of mulch by using citrus peels as deterrents. You can use peels from lemons, limes, oranges, clementines, grapefruits, and other citrus fruits. You can scatter these around the perimeter of your garden and around your plants as well.

Chickens in the Garden 1

Citrus juices can also work, while some homeowners cut up whole citrus fruits and drop the slices along the perimeter of the gardens and around their plants.

– Herbs and Flowers

There are some plants that naturally repel chickens, such as alyssum, calendula, catnip, chamomile, impatiens, lavender, lemon balm, marjoram, marigold, mint, nasturtiums, oregano, petunias, spearmint, sweet woodruff, and thyme. When possible, use established plants instead of seedlings to make it difficult for chickens to damage them.

Chickens are often on the hunt for food, such as bugs and insects. When bugs and insects are present in the soil and on your plants, the chickens most likely will go after them. Plant bug-repelling plants, such as citronella, lavender, lemongrass, and mint, to keep bugs, insects, and their predators away from your garden.

– Keep Grounds Covered

You can either cover bare patches of dirt with turf grass or allow some weeds to grow in these bare patches. Bare patches of dirt indicate possible areas for dust baths for chickens. By eliminating any bare patches of earth in your garden, the chickens will be less likely to visit your outdoor spaces.

If weeds bother you, you can opt to place plants tightly together. Some plants cannot grow in crowded soil so you may need to determine which plants suit your intentions.

– Fences

This is the easiest way to physically prevent chickens from damaging certain plants in your garden. A simple fence using chicken wire with some support will help keep chickens away. Chickens might be able to squeeze within some gaps, so make sure to fill them up.

simple fence using chicken wire

All you will need to do is use stakes or tomato cages over your plants. Wrap the chicken wire around the stakes or tomato cages. You can have the entire structure at least a foot high up to four feet high to lessen the risk of chickens flying over your enclosures. Check out a few ideas on how to extend your fence’s height.

– Wire Cloth

If you want to prevent chickens from invading a large area, you can cover it with wire cloth. Spread the wire cloth on the ground you wish to protect. This method is ideal for mulch areas, recently-seeded grounds, or seedling patches.

You can also raise the wire cloth by several inches to allow any seeds or seedlings to grow and be protected from chickens. Make sure that the wire cloth is supported securely either by heavy stones, bricks, or other structural supports.

Some homeowners create a wire cloth box by cutting off a square from each corner, bending all edges, and securing the edges. This makeshift wire cloth box can be adjusted to any height depending on how high or low you need the box to be.

– Stones and Bricks

You can also use stones and bricks to surround an area you wish to protect from curious chickens. Surround the base of the plant with medium-sized or large-sized stones. You can also use bricks or a combination of both.

This is ideal when your area is not too broad and you wish to protect a plant or a small group of plants from chickens. Make sure that the stones and bricks completely surround the base of the plant and leave as few gaps as possible.

– High Containers

Chickens usually do not bother plants grown inside containers that are high enough to keep them out of reach. Select plants that you feel particularly protective of, and plant them in high containers.

Raised beds can easily deter chickens from damaging the plants. As long as your raised beds are high enough to keep chickens from flying up and walking around, your plants should be fine.

– Hanging Containers

This option is ideal for hanging plants that are favorite food sources for curious chickens. By placing your plants high up, chickens are less likely to damage them as most chickens cannot fly very well.

A fantastic way to keep your garden areas beautiful yet functional, shrubs easily deter chickens from invading certain areas in your outdoor spaces. These living fences are particularly beautiful when used around flower gardens. Select shrubs that are with dense growth and compact foliage to ensure that chickens will have a hard time getting through.

Chickens are usually wary of large, unknown figures even if they only resemble humans. Scarecrows are often used as a way to frighten unwanted garden visitors, including chickens.

Natural chicken predators, such as owls and hawks, can scare chickens away. You can opt to buy decoys to frighten them, although you may have to move them around frequently so that the chickens do not become accustomed to their presence.

placing your plants high up

Setting up pinwheels in your garden can seem a little whimsical, but they work for a reason. Sudden movements can often frighten many animals including chickens. Use pinwheels that are especially bright or metallic.

Air movements will cause the pinwheels to move, and if you use bright colors and metallic finishes, the flashing movements will cause the chickens and other birds to scurry away.

– Chicken Tractors

Chicken tractors are small moveable enclosures without floors that can easily keep chickens while making their enclosures entirely portable. Chicken tractors allow you to keep the chickens that you raise in a moveable container to control their movements.

Chicken tractors allow chickens to dig, scratch, and defecate in the dirt, allowing your soil to become more fertilized and aerated. At the same time, you ensure that your chickens get to roam in a controlled area without ruining or damaging your plants.

There will be instances where even the most determined chickens will force their way into your gardens most likely because they are on the hunt for more food. However, when you anticipate the likelihood of their visits, you can control their movements better. 

– Exclusive Dust Baths

Exclusive Chicken Dust Baths

Lead chickens away from your garden by installing a bare patch just for them in a secluded area near the chickens. Ideally, this bare patch of dirt should be around three feet by three feet, far from your garden, and near where you keep your chickens.

If you have this space dedicated to their dust baths, as well as their scratching and digging needs, you will see them less likely to visit your garden. You can also sprinkle some diatomaceous earth over this patch of dirt every few months to reduce the chances of the presence of chicken mites.

– Dedicated Chicken Garden

You can plant a garden just for your chickens to enjoy. Place edible plants that chickens love to eat and forage. Ideally, the garden for chickens should also include bushes, shrubs, and low-growing trees to create shelter from the sun and from overhead predators.

Fruit-bearing bushes, such as blueberry and elderberry, provide enough snacks for your chickens to keep them from wandering too far from their dedicated areas.

This separate garden works extremely well when you place plants that repel the chickens in your own garden. This way, you get to enjoy your own garden spaces while allowing your chickens to enjoy theirs.

– Well-planned Garden Spaces

If you plan to create areas that will keep chickens in, you have to be strategic in your approach. Using one method will yield the least likely result while using a combination of different techniques will yield higher chances of success.

Organize your garden spaces in such a way that you incorporate many ways of keeping chickens outside of your spaces while keeping them happy and healthy.

If you are raising chickens and they are invading your garden areas, it may be very possible that you are raising too many. Keeping a smaller flock of chickens can lessen the chance of plant damage. It is also easier for you to keep an eye on them.

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