Chicken Coop Update
As much as we love these feathered creatures, they can and will wreak havoc on a nicely landscaped yard. Chickens love bark mulch almost as much as pirates love treasure, and they LOVE to throw it everywhere! I never liked having my chickens locked in their little coop all day, I felt like they needed a chance to wander around and do what chickens do, so I always let them outside. My last group of chickens didn’t bother squeezing through the slats on the vinyl fence very often so they didn’t cause much trouble in the yard. This group, however, thinks being outside of the fence is the only cool place to be and since chickens are social critters they tend to play follow the leader quite often. I must have spent close to an hour every week this entire summer sweeping bark back into its place of destiny only to have the frisky little hens dig it all back up again. Finally I said, “Enough is enough”! Something MUST be done to keep these birds in their proper place of residence.
This is what the chicken yard looked like before the additional fencing was added.
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As you can see there is MORE than enough room for 5 chickens to live a very happy successful life in their own yard.
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This is what the chicken yard looks like now.
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I added small white washed wooden stake fences to the outside of the original vinyl fencing. I had originally tried to put the stakes on the inside of the fence thinking it would be less noticable but there were too many rocks and too much concrete in the way to make it work. The change isn’t drastic but I think it adds just enough height and distraction to keep the birds from trying to push their way out.
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The east side fence did end up with the stakes on the inside because of the stone path that lines the other side of the fence. I don’t like that it isn’t the same all the way around but again, it seems to be serving its purpose!
I realize this wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing option but it was the fastest and the cheapest. Logan wasn’t convinced this was the answer but after much begging and pleading he agreed to invest a small amount of money now, in hopes of avoiding the need to invest in a more substantial alteration next summer. So far the chickens have been out in THEIR yard for 4 hours and they have yet to find their way into MY yard. I will continue to keep my fingers crossed!
