I have come to realise that no matter how many books I have read on the subject of keeping chickens, that 'garden demolition' was never mentioned. I had to laugh at some of the posters who have nicknames for their flocks. hee hee!
I find I have a feeling of deja-vu here, and this in reference to when I gave birth to my son. When he started walking, and pulling himself up onto things, I had to make a conscious decision to change the environment a bit to accommodate him, but also so that I could still enjoy it.
With chickens, it seems to be very much the same thing. I am an avid gardener, and will grow anything. On my patio, I have now put any flowering plants and ferns up on windowsills or in tiered hanging plant pot holders. My strawberries (in pots) are now sitting on a higher table that they seem to have no interest in getting onto. The larger potted shrubs stay where they are, as the chooks don't seem to want them. (Therefore, raise tender flowering and fruiting plants to wall mounted hangers, windowsills and shelves if you can.)
As for my herb garden: well, that died an untimely death. :{ A good day's work and quite a bit of money in the herb collection, so not too pleased about that.) They tend to dig their dust holes in between the plants and then proceed to cover the plants in a mound of earth, eventually trampling them to get back into their holes. I have had to admit defeat on the herb patch for now, as I cannot afford materials for that at this point (and don't have my Dad handy to help me build the fence around it). So I did the next best thing and hoiked all the herbs out, put them into planting boxes that now sit on my kitchen windowsills.
The lawn seems to be getting the most benefit...I haven't had to mow it the whole summer and it has never looked greener (well, at least the parts of it I can see that are not covered in chicken poo. lol!) Can't be a bad thing, right? They have also scratched up every weed in the borders (as well as some flowering annuals), but my worst nightmare is the fact that quite a few areas of the garden have been laid to gravel. And lordy lord, they love scratching in that! :{ It gets everywhere.
Our last job will be to fence off part of the garden because I am having trouble keeping up with their digging. Impossible now to just 'get rid of' because I love them too much. The whole family agree that they have brightened our lives with their personalities and antics. Just wish they weren't quite so destructive. :}