Pallet garden inside chicken run

[danahud]

I usually let my chickens free range in the yard on a daily basis. However, weve had a hawk circling close by for about the past week. Today he circled right over my chickens!
I got everyoone back into their tree covered lot safely, but now Im afraid to let them back out.
Has anyoone tried planting a garden for their chickens inside the run? I was thinking a pallet garden might work . Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated. I dont want my chickens to have to rely on their layer feed for all of their nutrition.


Also the lot itself is not covered. Any suggestions on ways of deterring birds of prey from coming into the lot ?

 

[foreverlearning]

If it is a small area then hang CD's or shiny streamers from the tree limbs to help deter them. Because of the strange winter the hawks are more aggressive then normal all over the country. Pallet gardens are a great idea but the problem is in the fact that chickens like to eat seeds. If you have to start it in the run instead of starting it somewhere else and moving it to the run then you might want to cover it with hardware cloth until they start growing. For thin things like grass you can keep the cloth on it and it will grow threw it so it never gets too short. For leafy things you will have to remove the cloth so the chickens have access after it has started growing.

 

[danahud]

Thanks. I was planning on just starting them in the pallets in the run, knowing I would have to protect the plants until they were big enough to withstand the pecking.
I was going to do grasses in one and herbs in the other 2 pallets, covering them up to allow growth in between pecking sessions. would bird netting be sufficient to drape over pvc ( hoop greenhouse style) to keep the chickens out long enough for the plants to recuperate after each grazing session?

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

http://www.fresh-eggs-daily.com/2012/05/diy-chicken-salad-bar-giveaway-from-my.html

http://www.fresh-eggs-daily.com/2012/04/chicken-run-landscaping.html

And make sure you look at the second link! I spent 10 minutes looking for it on Fresh Eggs Daily facebook page

 

[danahud]

Her blog is great!
I think I may have solved the issue. Today i bought cheap bird netting at walmart (7 dollars) and some bamboo poles ( 10 for 2 dollars) we erected a make shift fence around the pallets which can be opened easily to let the chickens in to eat.
I planted spinach, lettuce, herbs, etc in 2 pallets and in another pallet we planted wheat. The chickens were wanting at the wheat badly so I covered everything with a dusting of old potting soil we had laying around. They seemed to have forgotten about it already and moved on to the apples and carrots I threw in earlier.
We'll see if it works !

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

Glad you liked it! I follow her and The Chicken Chick on Facebook, they have different opinions on some things and sometimes I disagree with both but none the less they provide helpful information Good luck!

 

[danahud]

My chicken garden is growing in nicely! it wont be long before I can open it up for the girls to munch on!

 

[foreverlearning]

Just in time for spring grazing! I'm sure they will love it.

 

[danahud]

I hope so! the wheat grass I plated in the pallets is soooo much prettier than what I grow as fodder. Must be the chicken manure I mixed into my compost pile!

 

[RenaG]

I am looking at doing this in our enclosed chicken pen. We can't let our chickens free range due to hawks, dog, and cats. My babies are only a week old now so maybe have a good garden for them within a few weeks.