Plants In The Chicken Run! A Mini Forest For Chickens!

[WI chickens]

I let my chickens roam in my food forest while the plants in their "run" area are getting established. In their run at my previous place, their hands-down favorite plant was autumn olive. They just adore the berries. I'm moving some autumn olive from other areas of my new property into the chicken run area. Yes, I know they are considered an invasive in some areas. They are growing wild on my land in various places and don't spread to any degree so they are easily controlled.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Here’s some pictures of the plants I have

Dwarf nectarine
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Eve case coffeeberry (just planted, it should get 5ft tall and bushy)
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English lavender
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Compact Texas sage, a bit bare due to late spring frosts
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Apple tree
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Rosemary
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Hummingbird sage
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Butterfly bush
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Blueberry’s (these should get to 6ft+ tall, I’d expect the chickens to pick the bottom 2 ft clean)
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Baby California mountain lilac
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It should grow to look like this
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A bunch of sagebrush from the property
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Chicken goals right here, friend.

 

[Farmers Chicken Farm]

...The coffeeberry and its fruit are listed as non-toxic, and many species of birds and mammals eat the berries.

Coffeeberry has caffeine. Have you had issues from your chickens eating the fruit?

 

[GreenAcres Homestead]

I am glad I found this topic tonight for I have been wondering about plants and our chickens come spring for we plan on doing some raise beds. But this has have me some new idea for their new run I am building them. Right now it's completely bare and my question is what about their digging up the plants or should I put rocks or something around the bottom of the plants??

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

I am glad I found this topic tonight for I have been wondering about plants and our chickens come spring for we plan on doing some raise beds. But this has have me some new idea for their new run I am building them. Right now it's completely bare and my question is what about their digging up the plants or should I put rocks or something around the bottom of the plants??

(Note: I am in the northern hemisphere, so the primary sun comes from the south in my garden, shade is created on the north side of objects during the hottest hours of the day)

I have a lot of small fruit shrubs (blueberry, gooseberry, Saskatoonberry etc) they are planted along the north side of a raised bed and thus naturally create cool and shade during the hot days. The hens (and ducks) have decided to make sleeping spots under the shrubs along the fence and they do dig a little. The digging stops weeds from growing, but has never damaged the trees.

If I were planting in your garden (new trees that have not yet established deep roots) I would dig deeper than normal, make a wider than usual ring of fresh dirt, and bury them deeper than normal. The goal being that the roots spread quickly outward and downward.

But,at least my girls, in my soil, don't dig very deep. The "dust bath" is at most the "thickness" of a very spread out little hen. My bantams dig down about 5", in order to swirl around in the heaven that is a bath.

This little hole they make then gathers water when it rains, the hole absorbs water easily and creates a benefit to the trees of an aerated soil.

The trees they favor tend to do better than those they don't like.

(All that to say) I don't put rocks at the foot of trees, but I will throw lots of fresh straw with poo in it at the foot of shrubs and smaller trees in the fall (just before snow) in order to protect from freezing.

Since the hens carry out lots of bits of straw and pine shavings into the run, the level of soil there tends to rise, so that adds a thickness to the soil. (Eventually)

They downside? Last year I had a mouse eat the bark off a tree where I had lots of straw, so I think I made a great winter home for this mouse. It was my error, normally (even pre-chickens) I would put little metal mouse trap boxes at the foot of fruit trees in the winter. Otherwise they kill those trees.

(Apologies to mouse lovers, I live in the woods, they are many here, in no danger of any suffering. I even protect them from many predators by not allowing many predator birds to come in the area while protecting my chickens, and not allowing feral cats hunting here)

 

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

I am glad I found this topic tonight for I have been wondering about plants and our chickens come spring for we plan on doing some raise beds. But this has have me some new idea for their new run I am building them. Right now it's completely bare and my question is what about their digging up the plants or should I put rocks or something around the bottom of the plants??

I do put large rocks around the base of my plants. If I just planted something and it’s trying to establish, I put a wire cage around it for a couple of months until it has a good amount of new growth.

 

[Molpet]

I am glad I found this topic tonight for I have been wondering about plants and our chickens come spring for we plan on doing some raise beds. But this has have me some new idea for their new run I am building them. Right now it's completely bare and my question is what about their digging up the plants or should I put rocks or something around the bottom of the plants??

I have weed fabric with holes for the plants and 4ft tall cages around the tomato plant. No slug or worm damage, they do get the fruit that hangs out

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

I have weed fabric with holes for the plants and 4ft tall cages around the tomato plant. No slug or worm damage, they do get the fruit that hangs out

Are the cages in the run, or do the girls access this in your garden?

For vegetables I only use raised beds in an area the hens can't go. They killed all the flowers in the beds they could access (if the feet can dig up the roots, they do)

I wondered about making a tube out of chicken wire around plants.

On the bright side ..there is no grass to mow where I don't want to do that, they have cleaned up anything from growing in those spots.

 

[Molpet]

Are the cages in the run, or do the girls access this in your garden?

I can block them out, but I usually don't. I have a lot of birds and 4 coops in a 150ft x 600ft poultry yard. The tomatoes are fenced in between the house and the poultry yard. I have a turkey that insists on nesting next to the house. So I moved the rest of the garden to a different spot and fenced it in

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

I have a turkey that insists on nesting next to the house. So I moved the rest of the garden to a different spot and fenced it in

You and I have a very similar attitudes towards our turkeys (equally enabling!) You moved the garden to suit the whims of the birds... Yeah, I have done this kind of thing. Heaven forbid the bird not have everything it likes, just how it likes it!