Anyone know of climbing plants that chickens don't eat? Dream on, right?

[joypeters]

I would love to plant some climbing plants along the run - it's 8' high - but my guess is that all the bottom parts will be eaten. that's not horrible, but i wonder how i can get them to grow?

anybody got any thoughts?

thanks! joy

 

[Hokum Coco]

The plastic plants they sell at Walmart work well LOL.

 

[joypeters]

thanks, but i can't stand plastic plants in my house, so i probably won't 'grow' them in my organic garden either.

 

[Amys birds]

I think your only bet is to plant them a foot out from th very bot
tom & run twine from the highest point you think your feathered friends will be able to reach down to the ground. Put some LG nails in the ground & tie the twine to them. Then you plant morning glories & when they get tall enough you train them up the twine.
Good luck.

 

[joypeters]

great, thanks. i can't plant morning glories here in so cal. they are invasive and will literally grow underground and turn up everywhere.

i think i figured out what to do from your suggestion tho. i'm going to plant potato vines, and sheild the plants from the girls with sheets of plastic until they've grown tall enough to get past the hungry beaks. hopefully even if they eat the bottom leaves, the plants will still grow above that.

thanks! joy

 

[Amys birds]

Since we always get freezes here in northern Ok we don't have to worry about that. The sweet potato vine should work great tho!! Good luck!

 

[lilchick]

I don't plant vines but I do plant evergreen shrubs and lilac bushes. They make great shade and chickens do little damage to the evergreens and when other bushes get big enough the chickens enjoy lounging under them as well as eating low hanging leaves.
Also have ornamental trees that are kept trimmed down to a shrub size but are too tall for chickens to reach the leaves.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I'm hoping the Princess Di clematis vines we ordered for this spring are not a 'special treat' in the chickens' mind.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

I plan on doing some vines on the sunny side of the run for shade. My plan is to make a sort of chicken wire trellis. I'll attach it to the top of the run but the bottom will sit out about 8 inches from the run to prevent the chickens from eating the roots and the stem of the plants.

I'm going to plant pole beans. The girls love them, they grow quick and have large leaves so will provide easy shade. Plus they can have the beans as treats.

 

[hungry4eggs]

I picked up sugar snap peas to climb up the outside so they can eat what grows through the chicken wire on the upper part of the run.