Chickens in the Garden

Blue Maran Roosters

Blue Maran's lay beautiful dark chocolate brown eggs

I got this idea for the individual chicken hutches from Mother Earth News; simple but efficient. My roosters are nearing adulthood (learning to crow...hilarious). As I do not want them in with the hens creating fertile eggs, I decided this would be a good idea as they would be separated from the hens and be a partial solution for the bugs that are trying to eat the entirety of my garden. Initially it seemed like a home run; they immediately started to eat weeds and bugs like crazy and I felt like the smartest person on earth. That is until the dogs noticed them and started to bother them from the other side of the fence.This panicked the chickens and caused them to find a way under the fence thereby practically putting them in the dogs' mouths who we already know from experience to be proficient chicken killers. We narrowly rescued the chickens and spent hours putting boards along the bottom of the fence to hold it down. So, now I think that the chickens are contained and safe. Silly me. They were content and seemingly contained for a few hours after which, when we checked, they were nowhere to be seen. Evidently, they stood on top of their hutches and used them to get to a height that enabled them to fly over the top of the fence. After a group effort chasing them through the woods, we returned them to temporary quarters and have decided to have them in the garden only when we are in there working. I haven't given up though. . Next year......better, chicken containing, garden fence.