We have 2 orpington x wyandotte hens, Sylvia & Shirley, who decided it was a better life over the fence living with our little Pekin bantams in the house garden. I raised them from our own eggs last year & they talk to me every time I venture outside. We have fun & games finding their eggs, anywhere from under the beans to in a rusty garden bucket. The problem with big chooks in the garden is that they scratch.. a lot.
Sylvia & Shirley ~ Orpington x Wyandotte
Now, hubby is a patient man, who knows I adore these girls so, 2 weeks ago, he completed a fence around the main vege garden to keep them out. That has worked well BUT we also have 3 separate raised beds & yesterday hubby came home to find all his newly planted potatoes dug up. Less than pleased, I was given stern instructions to find a way to keep them in the paddock or rehome them. I have clipped their wings. Tried it before, wasn’t very successful, but so far today they have not managed to get back over the fence. Clipping does not hurt the birds .. just prevents them from flying too high.
If your birds need a bit of this ‘confinement’ treatment, there are good instructions here.
It’s going to be strangely quiet without these girls.. but probably a lot less work.
