You might have planned a lifestyle of self-sufficiency- a flock of chickens and a lush garden. But sometimes, keeping your vegetables and fruits safe from the chickens becomes challenging.
If you are already homesteading, you might understand better that keeping your chickens out of the yard is always difficult. But don’t worry. I got the solution, in fact, multiple solutions for you!
I’ll discuss the ten ways ‘how to get rid of chicken from garden’ permanently. You may try one or multiple of them to get rid of them permanently.
So, let’s dive in and discuss this in detail!
WHY KEEP CHICKENS OUT OF GARDEN SPACES?
Who can deny how awesome it is to have chickens because you enjoy fresh eggs daily! Besides the many perks of having chickens at home, you wouldn’t deny that they can also mess up your garden.
They love eating bugs that enter your garden. As the chickens enter the garden after bugs, they also love eating fruits and vegetables, so your garden is just a buffet to them.
But then, why do the chickens go after mulch in the garden?
As mentioned earlier, chickens love going after bugs, so they dig mulch to satisfy their craving for searching and eating bugs.
If you are looking for a way to avoid them by digging in the mulch, you should check the bag before buying.
Tip: You can use a net to cover the mulch, because chickens don’t like net under their feet.
Besides using the net, you may also use mint or cinnamon scent spray to keep chickens out of garden spaces.
10 WAYS TO KEEP CHICKENS OUT OF GARDEN
If you are wondering how to get rid of chicken from garden, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, you”ll come to know about the 10 effective ways to keep chickens out of your yard.
Out of the many ways I am going to suggest, it can be used to keep chickens out of garden without fencing. So, let’s get into it and learn more!
- Water
Although it might not sound like any solution, it works. Water works as a chicken repellent, and they run away from it. Try it by standing a few times at the boundary of your garden and sprinkly water on chickens as they come inside.
But this is definitely not always possible, as you can’t stand by your garden boundary all the time. So, you may use an automatic water sprinkler that senses the chickens, start sprinkling water, and scare chickens away.
- Herbs, Spices, And Scents
Many people ask how to get rid of chicken from garden using spices or scents, so here’s an answer.
Chickens don’t like the smell of strong spices, including black pepper, cinnamon, garlic, paprika, etc.; you can blend any or two of them. It works!
Sprinkle the powder around your garden and around the plants too. Chickens will flee away whenever they try to enter your garden.
If you’re reluctant about grinding the spices and sprinkling them everywhere the chickens can enter, you may also go for planting herbs that chickens dislike (taste and smell).
As chickens are voracious eaters, they always try to eat plants. You may plant the following herbs to keep the chickens out of your garden:
- Sage
- Salvia
- Lavender
- Borage
- Catnip
And others.
- Citrus Juice/Rinds
Chickens dislike the smell and taste of citrus fruits. If they accidentally taste or smell rinds or juice, they run away.
You can use lemon, orange, grapefruit peels, or juice to scare off your chickens.
You can scatter off the peels around the garden or use citrus spray to deter chickens.
Tip: You can manage saving citrus fruits’ peels by separating their can so that you don’t waste them accidentally.
- Shrubs And Chicken-Repellent Plants
The very common question is ‘How to get rid of chicken from garden by planting shrubs and plants that chickens dislike? Here’s an answer to it.
To keep chickens out of garden, planting smart is helpful. You should plant their least favorite plants at the boundaries of your garden so they run away whenever they try to enter your garden. Some of their least favorite plants include lavender, lemongrass, and mint.
You may also add a line of shrubs at the boundary of your yard to avoid chickens entering to your patch.
- Make Your Chicken A Garden.
Making a separate garden space is a great way to prevent chickens from entering your garden. Having a bigger garden area won’t be difficult for you.
Place edible plants that chickens love to eat and forage to keep them busy munching in their garden. Also, once they get used to finding bugs and their favorite plants in their garden, they won’t look into yours for more.
Tip: The more dreamy their garden is, the lesser the chances that they will invade your garden.
- Use Stones/Concrete To Cover Your Plants.
You can use stones and bricks to cover the lower part of your plant so that chickens can’t destroy plants. Make sure to make the boundary a bit higher, so that chickens don’t jump inside.
This is a good option for those with a little kitchen garden.
Remember: Do not cover the base completely. Leave small gaps to allow air and sunlight to get through.
You can use high containers if you do not have a dedicated garden and want to protect your houseplants from the chickens.
- Use Decoys
Another solution to ‘how to get rid of chicken from garden’ can be using decoys.
Although chickens are curious creatures, they also get scared very easily. So, you can use DIY toys to scare off your chickens. They detect motion and start displacing from the position so chickens can’t recognize that they are toys.
As chickens also get scared of noise, you can use it to keep them away from your garden.
- Lessen Weeding
Even though it might not sound appropriate, this is another efficient way to keep chickens out of your garden spaces.
Weeding is crucial for your garden in many ways, but you might have to compromise a bit if you have a flock of chickens.
Too much weeding attracts chickens to the garden, ultimately attacking your veggies. So, lessen it to keep them away.
- Wire Cloth
This is a bit harsh, but after this, you would never search for ‘how to get rid of chicken from garden’ LOl!
You can use a wire cloth if you’re tired of trying everything to keep chickens out of your yard. Cover the area properly with the wire cloth.
This method works best when you’ve just finished planting new seeds. Or you want to keep the growing seedlings away from the attack of chickens.
Tip: You can also make the cloth box by securing its sides. You may also adjust it’s height and width according to your plant.
- Train Your Dog Or Chickens.
If you also have a dog at your home, and it also likes to practice its guard instinct, just perfect!
But make sure that your dog is not so aggressive and has much preying drive because it can cause injury to your chickens too. Make sure your chicken’s safety is more important than keeping them away from your garden.
But you can train your dog to ‘scare off’ the chickens when they get near the yard.
If you have no dog or an aggressive one, don’t try to train him. Instead, train your chickens so they behave like perfect ladies and gentlemen.
Got more questions? Here’re the answers to the most frequently asked questions about ‘how to keep chickens out of garden’.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How to keep chickens out of the garden without fencing?
There’re many ways to keep chickens out of garden without fencing. Above are the 10 most effective ways to do so. At least one of them would work for you!
In addition to the above given ways, you may also go for:
- The simple, strong wooden fence around your yard
- Try using hanging containers for small plants to keep them away from the reach of the chickens
- Prepare a bare patch of mud and dirt (ideally containing bugs) near your chickens to distract them from your garden
How to get rid of neighbors chickens?
You can prevent your garden from neighbours chicken attacks by using decoys or training your dog to scare the chickens whenever they try to approach the garden.
How to keep chickens out of mulch beds?
Using chicken wire or netting over the mulch can prevent your mulch from the chickens.
How to make homemade chicken repellent?
Mixing 5 cups of garlic juice with 2.25 cups of water, you can easily prepare a spray. Spray this mixture over the areas where chickens are likely to enter. You may also plant garlic around your garden to deter chickens away.
Will coffee grounds keep chickens away?
No! That usually does not work. Coffee grounds are used to repel other insects and pests in plants.
THAT’S A WRAP!
This article covers ‘how to get rid of chicken from garden’ in detail. There’re various methods, but the best of them are water, herbs, spices, and scents, citrus fruits’ juice and rinds, shrubs that chickens dislike, a dedicated garden for chickens, stones/bricks to cover the plant, decoys, lessen weeding, using wire cloth, or training your dog or chickens.
You may pick and choose one or many of them to try.
I have also answered frequently asked questions so you may skim through them.
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