How do I keep my chickens away from my house and garden?

[Farmer413]

I have about 20 chickens. They like to dig up my plants... I dont like that... How do I naturally repel them?

Also, the chickens love to dig up the dirt around the foundation of the house so much as the changing the grade in an area and causing water in the garage. I need to stop this ASAP. They want to come out of the run but I can't watch them all the time.

I do have a dog so I need something that is safe for the dog. I just want to keep the chickens out of gardens and about a foot or two away from the house.

While asking this I might as well ask one other thing... When the water was coming into the garage I used sheetrock to stop it for a day because it was all I had. As you can imagine it crumbled. There are now little pieces all over part of the yard. Is this safe for the chickens in a small amount? I cant get every little piece up.

Thanks

 

[m1chelle1]

I have about 20 chickens. They like to dig up my plants... I dont like that... How do I naturally repel them?

Also, the chickens love to dig up the dirt around the foundation of the house so much as the changing the grade in an area and causing water in the garage. I need to stop this ASAP. They want to come out of the run but I can't watch them all the time.

I do have a dog so I need something that is safe for the dog. I just want to keep the chickens out of gardens and about a foot or two away from the house.

While asking this I might as well ask one other thing... When the water was coming into the garage I used sheetrock to stop it for a day because it was all I had. As you can imagine it crumbled. There are now little pieces all over part of the yard. Is this safe for the chickens in a small amount? I cant get every little piece up.

Thanks

Fenced run seems like a good answer here.
Also, i always fence any garden area to keep the chickesns out. I have chicken wire over my planter boxes to keep the chickens out of there, too.

 

[Rlmp817]

You would either need a fenced run or fence around your garden/house.
You could try spraying them with water every time they approach the garden/house, while hilarious to watch the first few times, this is time consuming. {maybe setting up a motion sensitive sprinkler system?} spaying my chickens did help some, but either 8 was not consistent enough, or they didn't learn the lesson well because they did start coming up by the house again, so I increased their run size which also keeps them safe from the hawks that are circling right now.

 

[KathieMc]

You could also place wire around the house's foundation and if there is grass in these areas, it will grow back through the wire. The chickens won't be able to scratch/disturb the soil below the wire if their nails can't reach it. Hope this helps.

 

[Acre4Me]

Enclosed run with supervised free-range time is the most effective solution.

Otherwise, wire or 12" paving stones where you don't want them to dig. Or both - blocks next to foundation, and wire extending past that since if they still dig next to the block, it may still cause problems. In the garden or flower beds, either fence them out, or use wire to keep them from scratching the dirt.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Costwise it's probably most efficient to contain them, versus fencing them out of the garden + putting something around the foundation of the house. How big is your run right now?

 

[aart]

Fence 'em in or fence 'em out!
Free Ranging Romance meets Reality.

Costwise it's probably most efficient to contain them, versus fencing them out of the garden + putting something around the foundation of the house. How big is your run right now?

Indeed!

 

[KC Henitentiary]

Super Soaker for the win!