Unfortunately the animal that eats your bugs but not your plants hasn't been invented yet.
The only real possibility I can think of are bantams.They will eat your seedlings, but not the cabbage you were about to pick. Chickens on the other hand are absolutely lethal at all stages of your plants' life. Whatever you do, if you get birds, you'll need a few or they'll be miserable. Please don't get guinea fowl; they are stupid, flighty and they make a funny noise...
I love ducks but they make a heck of a mess!
bantams+kids= best friends. And they're smarter than chooks (not saying much I know, but hey.)
Whatever animal you get, you will inevitably have to protect your plants. I suppose what I'm saying is that it will be less work to squash the bugs etc yourself, but not nearly so much fun!

Truly, with those specifications you've listed, I think you'd be better off with the occasional services of a gardener of the human persuasion.

If you find an animal with those specifications, please let us know. I'd like to trade in my 3 digging, tomato stealing dogs for that...LOL.

Ania

The most important issue is the animal's care and safety. If you can't repair the existing fence, or erect some other barrier to keep your animals away from the road, or predatory animals from getting into your yard to attack your pet, you need to rethink. I have a friend who rents her chickens out by the day for "garden chores", but they are tethered and carefully monitored. You might find a farmer in your area who does the same thing - it only takes a few birds a day or two to eat MANY, MANY bugs.

The answer is: TOADS!

They eat slugs (even the huge Asian invasive ones), beetles, cockroaches, grasshoppers, crickets, all manner of insects, caterpillars and more.

So if your neighborhood has them, be nice to them.

If they have been extirpated from your neighborhood:
install a small ornamental pond, preferably with a pump w/ filter. Then bring some adult toads, tiny toads, or toad tadpoles (be sure to learn how to tell which are which) from a nearby natural area where you have permission.

Then make the adult toads somewhere nice to live - a part of your yard with some nice shady habitat, with leaf-litter and no lawn.

"The most important issue is the animal's care and safety"

Most definitely, and as a pet, it will be considered as a member of the family. Just this family member will have a taste for squash bugs....

By tethered, so you basically mean a chicken leash? I was imagining something like that but I thought I was going crazy.

If there is a possibility of getting a bird, I was thinking of having a fenced in area away from the garden with a little chicken house for it to retreat to for shelter. If a "leash", or what I imagine as a leash, is an option, I'll definitely consider it a good possibility for my area

Tethering hens has been going on a long time.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tethered hen

How about a snake! Thier are snakes that eat insects. :)

What you need are Guineas! They are great pets and love bugs not your veggies! There is a book named " Gardening with Guineas".

Ducks may be as close as you can get to those requirements, but Guineafowl might work too, depending upon your city/county zoning codes.

Dan

Takadi, I saw your thread and chuckled because I tried to have my son help me on bug and slub patrol...he apparently is not a domesticated animal! He will do it in another location...however not our yard, even with bribes...like an allowance. I have bird feeders and over the years in past gardens they take care of alot of the bugs and if you plant beneficial plants for beneficial insects they take care of everything else except weeds. I know an organic gardener who uses ducks for slugs and bugs and weeds on a large farm. Would a Toad be a native animal?

Since nothing will eat all of your bugs how are you going to treat the "family pet" when they don't preform. Does not sound like you want a member of the family just a way to not have to deal with the bugs. If you did you probably would have repaired your fences by now. Since that is something you apparently can't/do not wish to do it would be better is you hired a neighbor to take care of the bugs. You need to check codes before you decide on anything.

" Does not sound like you want a member of the family"

Well it depends on the animal. Reptiles or amphibians, maybe would just be for the bug control benefit, higher species like birds or mammals and nice and cute and cuddly and definitely would make a nice addition to the family

I always wanted a Japanese silky chicken

Ducks are much less destructive in their search for bugs. You'll want to check your city/county code to see if they are allowed, and if not ask the planning dept if they have the zoning code up for change as many are asking for fowl.

Dan

Muscovie ducks are primarily insect eaters and do the least damage to your garden. The breed does matter. I have two pekin ducks that will eat a squash or cuke plant in about 20 minutes if given the chance. Learned that one the hard way when they pulled a wandering one thru the fence. They do not have to have water to get in but do need plenty of water to drink. I put 2 by 4 inch fence over the water bowls to keep them out of it. Guineas will fly, are never tame enough to pet like ducks can be, and both are stupid when it comes to traffic. They also require a roosting spot and will use the taller plants if they dont have one. Ducks dont roost. Kathy

Guinea fowl are pretty good about not eating larger vegetables, though they may pull up seedlings.

why would you want to confine an animal to the outdoors and inclement weather? You want to treat it as a family member? Does your family live outdoors? In the elements? Then it should live indoors when it is too hot, too cold, etc.
Pick off the bugs...

That is my 2 cents.

how about box turtles in the garden? I put one there that our dogs had brought us.She eats on the compost pile and seems happy, but will she eats my seedlings? Has anyone had such experience ? I find them very pleasant animals..

Oh, takadi,

I see you have been sucked in by those idyllic photos of bug-eating, ground-tilling, fertilizing, weed-picking chickens in the gardening magazines. Sunset, English Garden, Martha Stewart- they all have this cute fantasy about chickens in the garden.

I got sucked in too.

I got chickens.

They do not eat the slugs, or the earwigs, or the pillbugs, but they eat my garden. They till alright, they dig up every new plant and scratch the older ones to death. They fertilize alright, all over the patio and their manure burns the plants. They leave the weeds alone.

If you want to get Silkies for pets, get two hens, build a strong, well-ventilated coop with a run, and go out there and pet them every day as you feed them their layer ration, clean their coop, check them for lice and mites, change their water, and collect the occasional egg.

Take a look at this site to get more info on chicken-keeping, or buy "Raising Chickens for Dummies". It will give you the straight dope on chickens in the garden.

Renee

Here is a link that might be useful: Backyard Chickens

Thank you hosenemisis. Do you perhaps by chance know of how I can obtain a silkie? Is there a breeder available near DC?

Why not go with native insectivore animals?

Birds, toads, wasps, lizards, ladybugs, etc. all eat the bugs that eat the plants and they show up at the right season. All you have to do is stop spraying and give them some sort of natural cover to live in.

I have wasps, lizards and birds all over the garden, hunting the caterpillars and grasshoppers. Hummingbirds and other tiny birds eat aphids.

I think takadi really wants a pet chicken.
They are fun.

You can order chicks from a number of hatcheries. They come mail order at one day old. You keep them in a brooder for several weeks before they are old enough to go outside. Then you move them to the coop.

If you go to the chicken website I gave you, and look under Hatcheries and Breeders, you will find one. There are also sections on raising baby chicks, feeding chickens, building coops and so on.
Renee

lazygardens, I don't spray at all. No pesticides, no nothing. Trust me, everytime I even step out in my backyard, huge flocks of birds retreat to the trees. It can be a double edged sword since they like to destroy my tomatoes and clip off my seedlings

I have noticed their population has exploded since I put my compost pile in my backyard. Or perhaps the word is spread around the bird community that I have a smorgasbord concentrated in a tiny 1/10 acre area.

I was really happy when I saw a mantis for the first time ever

I still got my options open for a duck or maybe introducing some toads, but that would mean I would need some kind of pond of some sort

You don't necessarily need a pond for toads, but you'll need little stepladders up to the plants if they are your only control. Toads are nocturnal whereas ducks are diurnal, making the bases more covered.

Dan

Duck poop.

Ducks and chickens do better in pairs.

Ducks do not have to have a pond or even water to get in to, only fresh drinking water. They like a pond or small pool alot, but it is not necessary for them to flourish. Muscovy ducks are primarily insect eaters, but other types of ducks will eat your garden plants I assure you. I agree that two of most animals are far happier than being alone, even same sex ones. Kathy