Can chicken run be a jungle of rhodadendrons?

[ChickenLove123]

I am planning a chicken coop and run for 8 hens. Coop plan is 6x8 and run is 6x16 (96 sqft). If I use the rule of 10 sqft per hen, this should be ample for my 8 hens. BUT there are a lot of rhodadendrons in this area. Would they appreciate the jungle? I can prune the plants back. ALSO, can the chicks hurt themselves if they eat rhody leaves? What about the moss on the ground?
Thanks!!!

 

[crazyhen]

check the poison plants list for them. I think they are poison to chickens. Also the roots are shallow and chickens will dig them out with their scratching and dusting. Maybe you can put the chickens elsewhere. gloria Jean

 

[ChickenLove123]

Oh, my! They ARE poisonous!
Here's the website that lists poisonous plants for chickens... the list is LONG! http://www.poultryhelp.com/toxicplants.html#R
Now to regroup...
Thanks for your help!

 

[elmo]

Yeah, on the poisonous list. I wouldn't build the chicken run to include the rhododendrons, or have them close enough to the side of the pen that the chickens could peck through the wire at them. But you may not need to remove them if you're just going to let your chickens loose in the yard sometimes. You could watch and see if the chickens peck at them first. They probably won't.

We have English Ivy growing at the back of the yard and I thought I would need to rip it out (an awful job) before letting my chickens free range. But an experienced poultry keeping friend who's also a landscape architect advised me not to bother. He said that my chickens wouldn't bother with the ivy unless it was inside the run (in which case they get so desperate for something green they'll eat anything and everything). He was right. My chickens don't eat the ivy.