[blades]

I keep an orpington cockerel, 4 isa hens, 4 white sussex hens in one house, a silkie cockerel and 4 bantam hens in another house and 3 indian runner ducks in another house all in the same good sized paddock. They all go to their own house at night and when let out each morning they all get on fine together although they seem to stay in their own little groups as they move about the paddock. The paddock is fenced in with chicken mesh 3' high. I was thinking of planting beech hedging around the inside perimeter of the paddocks to provide some additional protection for the wind and weather. Can anyone tell me if they will try to eat the hedging..... was thinking to get the largest bare root plants I can find which seems to be 1m to 1.25m high.

I'd appreciate your thoughts if any of you keep your chucks near beech hedging?

Thanks in advance

[SallyintNorth]

I don't think eating beech leaves would be the problem, but I do think scratching about would uproot newly-planted little plants.  Would you be able to temporarily fence the new plants to keep them safe from the hens' scratching?  Then if you wanted you could remove the temporary fence once the hedging plants are well established - the hens will make runs and dust baths underneath it, hide their eggs in it, etc.  I don't know if hens will eat the beech nuts when they fall - pigs certainly love them.

[blades]

I don't think eating beech leaves would be the problem, but I do think scratching about would uproot newly-planted little plants.  Would you be able to temporarily fence the new plants to keep them safe from the hens' scratching?  Then if you wanted you could remove the temporary fence once the hedging plants are well established - the hens will make runs and dust baths underneath it, hide their eggs in it, etc.  I don't know if hens will eat the beech nuts when they fall - pigs certainly love them.

Thanks Sally 

[Dan]

Just what Sally said. 

We had beech hedging around the paddock where our hens lived at our old place. They didn't bother about the leaves at all, but did enjoy the shade and privacy beneath it, and it got eroded in places with dust baths. Not a problem really, and easily fixed. The bl**dy rabbits were another matter!

[blades]

Just what Sally said. 

We had beech hedging around the paddock where our hens lived at our old place. They didn't bother about the leaves at all, but did enjoy the shade and privacy beneath it, and it got eroded in places with dust baths. Not a problem really, and easily fixed. The bl**dy rabbits were another matter!

Thanks Dan, appreciate your advice.

[Cinderhills]

A couple of years ago we bought bare root Hornbeam about the same height you are after.  They are in the garden where the chickens are free to roam and the only thing they did was scratch around the surface but they didn't do any damage as they weren't bothered about the hedge itself.  We put bark chippings at the bottom of the hedges to keep the moisture in and they just loved scratching under that. 

[Rosemary]

They didn't bother about the leaves at all,

Yes they did - they used to eat the new leaves at the bottom of the hedging in spring 

It wasn't fatal and the hedge was fine. As Dan says, the rabbits were a much bigger issue.

[Womble]

+1 for what Dan and Rosemary said!