Best Mid-Atlantic Chicken Run Plants

[krissyweso]

I live on the Chesapeake Bay (Literally... on an island) in Maryland, and I am planning ahead on laying out the plants I want to grow in my chicken run. I want, ideally, to plant things that will be good for my chickens to eat, are anti-pest, provide coverage from predators and the sun, and are perennial growers.

Our soil is very clay-rich, and the plants will get a lot of sun.

We have some existing tall grasses around our property that our chickens love to hang out under when they are free ranging, so I am planning on splitting those (since we have to this year, anyway) and planting them in the run. I was also thinking oregano (since it's good for their respiratory systems) and mint (anti-pest).

Has anyone in the mid-Atlantic region found a plant for their run that they and their chooks absolutely LOVE and has flourished (chickens will eat everything up so quick!!)? I would love to hear what it is and why you love it.

 

[nuthatched]

They'll eat anything to the ground in a few days unless it's bitter/toxic

 

[krissyweso]

They'll eat anything to the ground in a few days unless it's bitter/toxic

I'm not worried about that. I can section areas off periodically to let it regrow. It's a large run.

 

[krissyweso]

Boosting. I need tried and true ideas!!

 

[mowin]

How large of a run? How many chicken's? Even rotating every few days may not give the other areas enough time to rejuvenate properly. Realistically, each area might need a couple weeks to "heal".

 

[Sueby]

I once transplanted a big hosta into the run & covered it with fencing. By the next day they had busted down the fence, ate the thing to the ground, dug up the roots & made a new dust bath in the hole. I gave up after that.

I’m no help, but good luck.

 

[mowin]

I once transplanted a big hosta into the run & covered it with fencing. By the next day they had busted down the fence, ate the thing to the ground, dug up the roots & made a new dust bath in the hole. I gave up after that.

I’m no help, but good luck.

One of the hardest plants to kill. I swear you can toss one on pavement and it'll grow, lol.

 

[3KillerBs]

Unless you're talking a run large enough to measure by acres instead of square feet you're unlikely to keep anything alive in it that isn't an already established, deep-rooted shrub.

I'm deliberately using my chickens to kill off blackberries and muscadines -- some of the hardiest plants I know of.

 

[RubelliteRose]

I can't think of anything that chickens will eat and can survive that isn't a large shrub
If you can use a tall shrub, my flock LOVES American Beautyberry/Callicarpa americana. https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=caam2
You will see websites that say it grows to 3-5' tall, but my shrub is 8-9' tall and wide. You would have to keep it fenced off for a few years, but it grows quickly. Both the leaves and berries are safe for chickens to eat and an established shrub can survive chickens dust bathing around the roots.
While my chickens don't eat it, Wax Myrtle is another native shrub that my flock likes to hang out under. It is evergreen, so it provides good hawk cover all year round.

 

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

I’m not from the mid Atlantic but I have tons of plants in my chicken run that flourish. My run is 25’x58’ with 12 chickens as of now (20 come early summer). The key with plants in the chicken run is to choose hardy plants that get large. I protect the roots of each plant with large rocks that the chickens can’t kick away. Any new plants I add are protected with a wire cage for a few months until it has a noticeable amount of growth and is about 2’ taller than the chickens are. You also want to pack in as many plants as you can fit. 2 lone plants won’t stand a chance against chickens but if you have 20+ then they’ll do a lot better. I stick with hardy shrubs and fruit trees. I grow berries and grapes along on the outside of my run, it’s used as a trellis.
Some plants that have done really well in my run are; Native plants, plants in the sage family (I have hummingbird sage, compact Texas sage, Mexican bush sage, and big sagebrush), bushing rosemary, English lavender, fruit trees, butterfly bush, and surprisingly marigolds (I had about 20 in the run that just died at the first frost). I have multiples of a lot of these plants. I’m planning to add a lot more plants this spring. I’m going to try some more natives, fruit trees, and climbing roses. My entire run is also a deep litter compost system so that keeps the chickens very entertained and they really don’t mess with the plants much at all.