Fruit Fences

The chickens sure love to scratch up the mulch around the trees and berry bushes. The berry bushes are just starting to leaf out, and we don't want anything eating them, so I put up a fence. 

Jaron has been interested in grass, sticks, and rocks on the ground, so I left him examining the lawn while I briefly gathered supplies in the garage. 

I came out to discover he was coming to find me walking along the orchard fence. 

So determined! 

He eventually ended up riding along in the baby carrier on my back. 

I made a straight line for the fence using a long extension cord. Wooden stakes and a mallet built the support. 

I stretched old chicken wire along the fence and stapled it to the stakes. 

Pretty quick to put it together that way. The only downside was the piece I used was about six feet too short. 

I found a different piece that fit perfectly, but it's not the same height; it's a foot shorter than the longer piece. Hmm. Cut a piece of tall fencing to fill the gap or deal with a shorter section on one end? I'm leaning towards the latter.

In other news, the chickens have been loving their dust baths. The levels are lower than when I started, so eventually I might have to refill. Guess I better get more sand. 

Another interesting thing I noticed recently is that we have something sprouting in the compost area. 

My guess is it's old chicken feed. Seems like they've been eating the sprouts, so it's not getting wasted!