Definitely garden. Been doing that off and on for years and years. Never even touched a live chicken till July of this year when we brought our little flock of 6 home
It would definitely have to be something solid Nacho. We have Black Bears here that absolutely must not be fed in any way by humans or else they go "bad", and have to be trapped. We also have Raccoons and Mountain Lions, Golden and Bald Eagles, Osprey and several kinds of Hawk, Bobcats and Otters, plus Coyotes, and probable half Coyote/Dog. If any of the animals start being human fed they then become a nuisance at best or even a great danger to campers and their families, and even to myself.
I understand from the topic about fencing awhile back, that the main reason Raccoons have not broken into my garden chicken wire fencing is that they have not much reason to break in since there are no chickens in my garden.
In my situation up here I have to keep dangers at a minimum, not just for the campers and their children, but for myself. I keep the campers safe. That's part of my job. I do it quietly as part of the background up here.
Winter coming up promises to be the most solitude filled winter of my life, and I have had and enjoy solitude, but even my nearest neighbor will not be here anymore.
This picture was taken when I was 6 or 7. Claiming that I was gardening before then might be okay but, I didn't have my own garden - not that I can remember, anyway.
Certainly, there are many more years (40+) that I've had a garden (or helped in my family's garden) than that I've had a flock of chickens. But, they came about the same time and have, kind of, gone together thru a lot of seasons.
By the way, this picture is also on my BYC page. How do we get to our BYC pages with the new format on that forum??? I couldn't find a link :/ on "My Profile."
My parents had both chickens and a garden when I was growing up, although the garden took more precedence. Nearly our entire backyard was tilled up for a garden. Mom had flowerbeds EVERYWHERE (and still does.) The perimeters were planted with fruit trees. I think we must have had about an acre, maybe more. The chickens were in the very back by the creek. My dad also had two beehives which were situated beside the chicken coop. I never really thought about it, but that must be where my microfarming experience really began. After they divorced, all of it was gone. It wasn't until I was 29 and finally settled down that I came back to my "roots". I started in the garden first. Chickens have come and gone, as with my luck. But I will always keep a garden, on some scale or another.