ideas for protecting amendments and mulch around perennials from chickens

Chickens are great.  We free range ours across our large property.

But I also love my fruit and nut trees and bushes and want them to thrive and grow bigger, so that means applying minerals/compost/mulch/etc in the spring and fall.  That type of thing is a magnet for chickens and they will destroy it forthwith.  UGH!

I have been struggling to find good solutions to this for years.  Would love to hear what worked for you!

I have tried repurposing small pieces of fence and making a small circle around the base.  Sort of works but I have a lot of things to mulch.  Maybe you have a more elegant application of this to share?

I have also used the "lots of little sticks stuck into the ground method" which is effective because they don't have room to get in and scratch, but it means everytime I want to reamend/mulch I have to remove all those little sticks and start over.  You need a lot of little sticks close together for it to work.

Sorry if this has been asked before but I didn't see anything when I did a few search...

I feel like chickens know where you don't want them to be so they ESPECIALLY go to those spots.

If the fruit tree/shrub is small, I will utilize the fencing trick to protect the plant from getting unearthed. Once they have established, I just accept the chickens have found their new favorite dust bath and will top it off, time to time, with more compost/soil.

I know, not a great solution but I'll be curious if anybody has a better way!

This is an age old problem, so don't feel bad. In my opinion is comes down to one of two solutions. Either you fence in the chickens or you fence in the stuff you don't want the chickens to get into.

My preference is to use a mobile electric net so that I can move my chickens around and they get the benefit of new ground. But it lets me decide when I want chickens in certain areas. I like running chickens under fruit trees at certain times to eat grubs. Other times I want them to leave it alone. By using the electric net I can decide when and where I want my chickens. I know other people who simply fence out the areas they do not want the chickens going into and that works for them. I have too many predators to be able to free range chickens around here.

Do you have some plants that your chickens do not like?  If so plant those at the base of the trees/shrubs you want left alone.

I believe chickens don't like strong smells like citrus, rosemary, cayenne, garlic so use those to your advantage.  Plant or scatter peels and spices.

Wire cloches around the base have worked best for me, just a rough circle of chicken wire staked down. Chickens give up on it after a while once they realise they can't get in. The mobile electric net idea above is good if you've got the space for it, more flexible long term.

We have never been able to keep the layers in electronet.  They are too wiley and jump out.  Even if wings are clipped.   Plus we already have lots of other animals we're running in electronet like our sheep flock and our meat birds.  And we like having a permanent coop.

I think the cages/cloches around individual bushes is the way to go but I just wanted to see if there's another brilliant idea!!  Do folks like chicken wire or welded wire or....?

Another idea I had was that I have loads of plastic deer netting that we took down when I replaced my garden fence with welded and woven wire.  I wonder if that could be staked down on top of the mulch.  The chickens could be on top of it but they couldn't scratch through it...? hmmmm

Yes, chickens the bringer of instant soil fertility, and sudden destruction like “I just planted that”.  First I just use Larger compost piles started quickly, compiled, and watered are harder to dismantle.  Kept wet and throw some dirt on it’s hard to move.  While this meets some requirements large shrubs Goumi, some trees.  My longer term answer is same with most predation Cows, sheep, deer, (not goats or bears)… Something quite thorny at the point of attack.  I prune roses and place clippings over compost in a heap. Rough for me later to remove, but usually just compost down over 2 years. I also plant blackberries Himalayan, at the base of new trees orchard/solo.  Trained out on the tree branches these thorns are remarkably effective, better than some fence with seasonal tending. Experimenting with other barbarous berries as well.  Last is cattle panels in smaller sections flat over sticks long enough not to get pulled up.  Hope these help. Cheers

Cloches are a solid pick — I went through the same frustration with my first flock scratching up every bit of mulch I put down.

Two things that worked better for me than sticks. First, bury the amendments instead of top-dressing them. Chickens scratch at what's on the surface; if you work the compost into the top inch of soil and water it in, it mostly stops being interesting to them.

Second, for the mulch itself, try a flat wire apron: lay a circle of chicken wire or hardware cloth flat on top of the mulch around the plant (staked at the edges). Chickens hate scratching on wire — it doesn't give under their feet — so they give up and move on. Unlike the stick method, you can leave it in place and just lift it when you want to add more mulch, then lay it right back down. Cheap to make with a roll of chicken wire and some tin snips.