[henrietta5]

Hi - I would like our hens (11 in total) to just potter about the garden.  We have 0.5 acre or so with a small veg patch and a few flowers.  Mainly low maintenance alpines and rhodedendrons plus a pretty decent lawn.  Everyone I have spoken to has a pretty definate opinion on this one.  Mainly that the garden, despite its size and abundence of bushes, will get totally trashed, and that the lawn will be reduced to a bare mudbath. I sort of hoped the hens would mainly enjoy the bushes and shrubbery.  How far will they wander off from the coop, as the veg patch is at the farthest away point of the garden , and will they really destroy a whole lawn if they have lots of other areas under trees and shrubs to dig around in ?  VERY new to all this, obviously, so any help would be fab.  If I have to fence them in then I will. Think I've been looking at too many pictures of happy hens taking a gentle stroll in the garden without the slightest thought of vandalising it !

[viettaclark]

I've only got 3 hens in a garden 120x40 ft with a huge lawn and have recently let the hens out. I've fenced off the raised beds and any small areas of plants I want to keep with bamboo poles and 3 ft chicken wire which, although a bit ricketty, does the job. Grass is fine, except for piles of poo but I've had to move a few perennials to the front garden. They love scraping leaves and earth around but it's easy enough to sweep up. They dig holes that they all snuggle into and have pulled out the compost, grass clippings and leaf piles....great fun and no real damage. I've got 6 ft fences and I've only seen them fly about 4 ft high across the garden so that should be alright, I let them out for a few hours and get them back with lettuce or their mixed corn, but they keep coming back to the run anyway for pellets and water. It's lovely to see them enjoying themselves but they do make a mess!!!

[IMOmimey]

I have over 20 chickens in my garden. The grass is still ok, apart from around their food and water, despite moving it, My trees and shrubs are well established so they leave them alone. All under the shrubs is kept almost weed free! Its great, just wish they ate stingy nettles too - they seem to thrive, along with the dandylions!

[Vi]

We've got nearly 2 acres and 3 mature hens (and three 8 week old chicks which don't yet make much impact)  The mature hens wander an acre of the property and other than scattering the leaf litter from under the trees they don't seem to cause too much damage.  You'll know soon enough if 11 hens in your garden will cause damage, you'll be able to change tactics in time to stop any permanent damage

[joyfull]

I have 8 adults and 8 babies on 0.5 acres (plus a bridleway and the farmers fields), they scratch under my shrubs and trees and also dust bathe there. As for the lawn where we have mole hills they dig around them scratch a bit on the lawn (fertilizing it at the same time) but don't do very much damage. My dogs however dig craters where the moles appear - 1 listens with her ear to the ground and then starts to dig usually in vain 

[brahma]

We have 20 in about an acre of lawns, flower beds and veggie garden, we keep them out of the veggie garden, gave them place for a dust bath so only one area gets dug up and apart from that no problems. Initially they went around as a flock but now they spread out and each goes their own way until its time for bed. Thats when we are around. if we are out for the day/morning/afternoon they go back in their run, to many foxes and don't believe the old tales that foxes only come around at dusk....any time you are not there the fox will be.

[hillfooter]

11 (why so many to start with?) hens can do quite a bit of damage particularly in the winter but in the summer when the grass is growing well it should be OK if you pick up the worst of their droppings religiously.  The'll make dust baths in the driest areas and you might try and encourage then to use areas you're not so worried about such as in dry areas in borders or under trees/ shrubs but they are a law unto themselves so you might have to put up with them baring a patch of lawn for this activity.  In winter you might try restricting them to a strip of lawn a week using a 25 metre electric net that can be quickly moved and will also keep the foxes out.  Using panels with chicken wire or better still mesh to protect ares of grass (laid flat) will stop them scratching it up.  You don't say how wet your grass gets in winter but if it's clay you can use duck boards where they walk near the house which is a great idea to stop them wearing the area ajacent to the entrance.  A covered tunnel run. use a tarpaulin with bungees or similar for the roof and mesh covered panels for the sides with a duck board floor made from 30mm square batons 30mm apart makes an ideal door mat duck board.  This stops them creating mud around the entrance and keeps it dry so they don't trail mud in the house.  Alternatively pallets saw in half (make sure they won't fall apart when you cut them) make really economic walk ways/ duck boards for you and the hens in winter though they aren't so attractive. Treat all wood of course. 
What to do with all those leaves in autumn?  Dry them out and use them as litter.  I've seen a similar set up that you describe used very sucessfully with a fixed house inside a large aviary type fox proof cage which can be opened onto the lawn to let them graze in the day and shut up at night.  You can use bark or forest mulch and dry leaves as a base for the house  on conretete preferably. You don't say if you're in an urban or country location but foxes can be more of a problem in the day time in an urban area as they aren't scared off by the sight of people and tend to scavenge at all times.  Make sure your hens are restricted to your garden and are tempted to roost in trees or your neighbour's  gearden.  4 foot fences may not do it if they can easily fly up and perch on them.  Make them higher or use an electric wire if practical.

Best of luck

[IMOmimey]

I've read that bark is a big no no, as when it gets damp, it grows bacteria that can cause breathing probs ans aspergilosis (sorry spelling). Is that true?

[SMD66]

I would certainly make sure they can't get into the veg patch, once they are settled in they will wander that far.  they will scratch up your young plants at sowing time. We have .8 of an acre and our 17 hens  range all over it now, the grassed area is pretty well dotted with poo, you do tend to gat a variety of poo, some sloppy, so if you don't want that all over the lawn you may want to restrict them, or, do a regular poo pick, but with that amount of space and that many hens it will be a real chore. (plus it's v difficult to pick up sloppy poos!)
They will dig in the shrubbery rather than the lawn, but wont differentiate between shrubs and flower beds. 
If you do decide to fence them in do it 1st as if they are used to free ranging they will not be happy once restricted and will try to get out more.  I f you contain them 1st they wont know what they are missing and will be quite content.
good luck, and enjoy your hens, hope you get lots of eggs 

[hillfooter]

Re Aspergillosis and the use of bark as a litter.
Aspergillosis is caused by the spores of certain molds and fungus and produces pneumonia type symptoms.  Hardwood and particularly litter shavings can be a source and for this reason hardwood (or I suspect bark) should not be used as litter in houses.  This is why it is generally recommended not to use this material for litter.  In the confined spaces of a house use only softwood shavings or chopped straw or other sterile material (note not hay which is very susceptible to mold).  In order to constitute a threat the litter would need to be seriously moldy and would certainly be evident and with a reasonable hygene regime would be unlikely to get to a stage it would be a problem.  Generally in houses litter should be kept dry at all times and replaced if it becomes wet.  In an outside environment the sources of such spores are all around and it is impossible to not expose chickens to potential sources.  However outside it is very unlikely that the concentration of spores could build up to cause a problem in any case.  My suggestion to use forest mulch or bark as a base for a run was an exterior application so shouldn't be any more hazardous than allowing a chicken to forage and scratch arround in soil or woody debis in the garden.  Aspergillosis is a rare condition. 
(Moldy feed is another matter and Mycotoxins produced by molds which is ingested can cause serious effects including nervous system disorders.)

Regards

[IMOmimey]

Thanks for that hillfooter, twas very helpful
regards
Mimey

[SarahJC]

For nearly a year our five had the run of our 200ft x 35ft garden. They now have a third of that  We got tired of poo dodging and they took took a fancy to a few plants  They also used to rake out all the stones and leaves from the borders, so when I'd cut the lawn I'd have to rake all the stones they always seemed to find back into the borders, but would always miss a few, so now our lawnmower blade is a bit chewed looking 

But on the plus side  they are very happy in their part of the garden and they don't keep disappearing into the neighbours, as they can't get to the shared hedge  No more poo dodging, other than in their bit. Also they are brilliant at getting rid of moss in a lawn  :happy: If you decide to give then their own bit of the garden, you can always plant it up with plants and shrubs they won't touch.

[henrietta5]

Dear All - thanks so much for taking time to reply to my plight    Very helpful hubby has spent morning building an enclosure for the hen coop so, as suggested, we'll let them get used to that for a while.  I think the general advice of letting them out into the main garden at times and then keeping them in the run at others is a pretty good compromise.  I'll also take note of the fox advice.  We're in a semi-rural location 25 miles out of Glasgow.  When we lived in the suburbs, we had no hens, but saw plenty of bold foxes coming into the garden.  I haven't seen any here at all over the last four years, but realise it would be pretty naieve to theink they weren't about !  As for why the 11 hens - well yes, we meant to get six actually but with the children involved in the selection it just sort of escalated and so many people seemed to say that it would be tricky to add to an existing group of hens at a later date.  And we go through about 10 eggs a day here...so it seemed a good idea at the time.  It's really nice to get straightforward helpful advice from people who've been there before.  We've had a lot of advice from friends etc but none of them actually have hens, so it's mainly rumour I think !  Everyone we talk to about the acquisition of the hens has a heap of advice for us but none of it is based on fact !   Thanks again to everyone - will keep you posted