Tree or shrubs inside the chicken run

[Themehmeh]

Has anyone tried planting a small tree or shrub inside the chicken run?
What plants do you think might work well? Something they can roost and play in, without destroying.
I'd love to have something they can eat the berries off of, but won't be harmed by or interested in foliage or branches.

We just rebuilt our coop and the run is unusually tall and I'd like some natural uses for that much vertical space.
I'm planning on using some oak and ash branches as perches throughout the run.

 

[chiknhurder]

Trees that are small enough for the chickens to roost in will be an invitation to fly out of the pen. Also, if allowed to roost in the trees, they could begin roosting there at night and it will be open season on them from predation. I have a 30 year old oak tree in my pen that keeps them fairly safe from predation but the lowest branch on it is over 10 feet high. Shrubs are good for some protection but a determined predator, like a hawk, can drag them out.

 

[khaines628]

thanks for the post. I was thinking along the same lines as you.....a small tree/bush that will give them something to play around/on.
The other poster made a valid point though about this encouraging them to fly into trees outside the run or encouraging not sleeping in the coop. Is there a way to avoid this but still put a plant in the run for them?

Also what do yall think about planting grass (or something) seed in the run for them. I do not have a coop, run, or birds yet so it is feasable for me to do this now before i get birds. I was thinking if i plan grass in there it will give them something to peck at, scratch at and eat immediately besides just feed. Is this a good idea or should i just go with a dirt floor? what about sand? I was thinking if i didnt do grass that they would like sand over dirt. I could be wrong though i am completely new to this and still learning. Thanks for any advice!

-Kyle

 

[Tuhmu]

You could put grass in there BUT it would be gone within a week if that, depending on how many you have. The run will always be a barren wasteland unless you have a movable one. I plan on putting sand in mine this year just to try and make it look a little nicer.

I also would really like to know what bushes or trees would work in the run, I plan on doing a lot of landscaping on the outside of the coop but the inside the run it just looks so desolate.

 

[Themehmeh]

My run will be fully enclosed with a metal roof. There are no predators in my area, or at least they are very rare. We live next to a large poultry farm within the city with open face coops and runs that don't have canopies and I imagine they offer better game if there are any predators to begin with. one of my birds always slept half in/half out of the coop on cold nights so she could cover up with the coop flap like a blankie and we never had any signs of a break in. Our biggest threat is our own dogs.

 

[Tuhmu]

Right now I've been letting mine free range but when spring and planting time comes they will have to stay in the run during the day and come out in the evenings and weekends...when they can be supervised. They like to venture down to the house and dig up my wood chips and eat my flowers. lol

So far I haven't had a problem with predators *knock on wood* during the day there isn't much around other than coyotes and my horses/llama seem to scare them enough that they don't come up to my barn. We also have a pair of bald eagles that have been hanging around our area but so far they seem to be a BENEFIT as they keep away the hawks. Pheasants are like a locust here, there's oodles of them, which helps ALOT I think.

 

[chiknhurder]

I built a large pen around my covered run and coop after losing several birds to dogs and hawks. It's a shame that I have 3 acres and they can no longer safely free range so I'm planting a garden for them this spring. I built my pen 100 feet long and 40 feet wide so they wouldn't miss being out so much. I plan on fencing off about 1/3rd of it for a garden for them that will have whole grains, flowers and some greens. It'll provide feed for them as well as a place to attract insects.

I'm in the process of gathering materials to hang poultry netting over the entire pen to keep the hawks at bay. If I let them out anymore, it will be the last hour or 2 of daylight where I can be out there with them. They don't wander as far when it's getting close to sundown.

 

[chiknhurder]

Right now I've been letting mine free range but when spring and planting time comes they will have to stay in the run during the day and come out in the evenings and weekends...when they can be supervised. They like to venture down to the house and dig up my wood chips and eat my flowers. lol

So far I haven't had a problem with predators *knock on wood* during the day there isn't much around other than coyotes and my horses/llama seem to scare them enough that they don't come up to my barn. We also have a pair of bald eagles that have been hanging around our area but so far they seem to be a BENEFIT as they keep away the hawks. Pheasants are like a locust here, there's oodles of them, which helps ALOT I think.

Avoid getting to complacent like I did. I had chickens for a year and couldn't figure out why people were having such a bad time with predators until one day when I lost 4 Copper Marans, 3 hens and a rooster, to the neighbors dogs. Two weeks later I lost 2 more Marans hens to hawks. Now they are overflying my pen regularly. I think with chickens, it's not if you get hit but when. The birds are easily replaced but it will put a serious dent in egg production unless you buy someone else's older hens who may be at the end of their laying days.