"anasttin" wrote in
oups.com:

Thanks for the tips guys.

Overspray of poison is not the issue and I doubt over
watering because the garden was often dry.

could be damping off of the seedlings? or cutworms?

No relationship with any gardening neighbours to ask them
and now I have a new problem... my new chickens (only got
em in the last 2 weeks so they're not the culprits) jump my
fence and dig up the ground.

yup, chickens do that. they dig wallows, too. you might want
to put your garden in raised beds. then you can put chicken
wire boxes over the beds to keep the chickens off your
seedlings (and away from anything ripe, which they *will*
eat). my chickens go over an 8' chain link fence, so unless
you roof thier pen, they'll be out in no time. this is not all
bad though. they do eat ticks & bugs. last year we had
virtually no mosquitoes, despite having a 20 acre wetlands.
they also make really good compost for you.

Might have to give up on the project.

nah, but you might think about the raised beds. take a look at
Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew.
lee
--
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the
guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison, fourth US
president (1751-1836)