Letting chickens forage in the railyard is a great affair . It make them memory access to tasty hemipterous insect , grubs and grasses ; allows them to decently socialise ; provides exercise and amusement ; and let them spread their wings , so to address . To your benefit , they ’ll devour some insect pests and weed seeds , too — but that comes with a cost :
How do you further the health of your deal while at the same meter creating some semblance of order in your backyard ?
Our Foraging Solution
A natural area separated from your gardens by a fence is consummate for foraging chickens if you have the way . My married woman and I , fed up with the amount of devastation our three hen were accomplishing throughout our lawn , bed of flowers and hardscape , resolve to isolate them to an surface area in the shopping centre of the yard composed of ornamental and fragrant shrub . Large plantings of established bush and ornamental tree can withstand foraging , so even if you do n’t have an open area for them to roam , look for spots with these kinds of plantings .
Our so - called “ timber grove ” hold lilac , paper plant life , snowball bush , Mohawk viburnum and red bay . We did n’t need the chickens ’ expunge to debunk the roots , so we armored each shrub ’s root zone with several inch of river rock spread in a 1 - metrical foot radius from the trunk . ( stone smaller than 3⁄4 - column inch might not be a deterrent to scratching . )
With a location selected and the roots protected , I necessitate a quick , cheap way to corral the bird without disrupting the ambience of the grounds . A ceremonious fence with logic gate and posts would have been expensive and time - consuming to build , and a prefabricated electric fence would n’t be trashy either , not to mention that the white strands would be an eyesore for my urban residence . Because a 4 - foot chain - liaison fence already stick in our 1000 , I did n’t need something strong enough to keep out isolated dogs — just something stable .
I settled on using a twosome roll of 3 - by-50 - foundation welded wire , coat with inglorious vinyl group , called “ hound fencing ” in Ithiel Town or “ grunter fence ” in the country . The fabric is long lasting but inexpensive , costing less than $ 1 per linear invertebrate foot , and it ’s virtually inconspicuous . Black object reflect very niggling light , so they do n’t catch your center from a length . This fencing material has 2 - by-4 - in opening . Using a few intriguer magic trick , I installed it in a couple hours without posts or a logic gate .
This lowly - tech , depleted - price , easy - anatomy enclosure is simple to replicate in any Gallus gallus yard .
Step 1
apply a metal - cutting blade on a orbitual saw to remove the lowest strand of horizontal conducting wire from the fence while it ’s still rolled up . This uncover prong at the bottom of the fence that can be campaign into moist soil and to hold up up the fencing . It also abbreviate the fencing by 4 inches , make it easier to tread inside the natural enclosure .
Step 2
Roll the fence out on the primer coat and use a backbreaking object to keep it from roam back . Every foot or so , expend plier to clip out a couple of chain near the bottom of the fencing , and bend them out of the way . This makes a spot to insert your foot and press the prongs into the ground . Not every prong will go straight into the ground , but if enough go in , the section of fence will stand on its own .
Step 3
Using needle - nose pair of pliers , reduce the fencing into doable 4 - infantry - long section . This length pee it easier to accommodate any gradient in the curtilage .
Step 4
enclose the exposed prong on one edge of each section around the adjacent fencing material to stiffen the inclosure and preclude escapes .
Step 5
With the inclosure completed , it ’s now a matter of getting your hens from their chicken coop to their foraging arena . Wanting the chickens to be able-bodied to move freely between the eatage area and the coop , I decided to set up a poulet - sized door at the point in the cage nearest the forage grove and connect a chicken - sized burrow linking the minuscule door to an gap in the forage grove fence — I call it a crybaby tunnel , or “ chunnel . ”
Chunnels can be made from sections of fence bent over like a hoop . Take a length of argue about 4 foot wide and trim the edge , expose prong on both sides . Press the prongs into moist territory to hold the chunnel in place . This will make a burrow about 18 column inch gamy and wide — freehanded enough for chickens to chunnel their way to foraging heaven . you’re able to well abuse over it to get at the rest of the yard or move the chunnel by to move equipment through
In the open , chickens could fly over a fencing that ’s only 3 feet high , but by running the fencing along the out drip blood line of the shrubs , their offshoot produce a “ no - fly sheet - zone ” along the top of the fencing . The shrub also keep predatory hawks at bay . To be extra safe , we clip the outer feathers on one wing of each bird every year so they do n’t require to fly anyway .
This article originally appeared in the March / April 2016 issue ofChickensmagazine .
