Can you identify this plant?

[PJones]

Can you identify this plant? There is lots of it in the area I am going to put the chicks.

 

[SnowPeeOstrichU]

Hi there, how does it look as a plant?

 

[Sjisty]

Are there purple berries? Google beauty berry and see if it looks similar.

 

[Sjisty]

Here's a picture -

 

[SnowPeeOstrichU]

Based on google+wikipedia, something of the callicarpa genus, some of which are used for wine and others for insect repellent. Not sure if this helps...

 

[Chipper Chicken]

Can you identify this plant? There is lots of it in the area I am going to put the chicks.

Is the stem square(ish)? If so its in the mint family. Looks familiar but I'm away from my books right now so will be harder for me to ID. What state/region are you in, that would help as well. It could also be a false nettle, Pilea pumila. Clearweed is another name for Pilea, as the leaves go translucent later in the season. I'm guessing you are east of the Rockies if it is Pilea tho, I've never seen it in the west.

 

[Pork Pie]

I have seen these plants before but do not know its name. You could use a dichotomous key to identify it. Here's a link.

https://gobotany.newenglandwild.org/simple/

 

[Chipper Chicken]

No,not Pilea. I should have checked this first, but yours has alternate leaves and Pilea has opposite. Sorry.
Is it growing in a wettish area? Or a dryer one?

 

[PJones]

Dryer shaded area. I live in the south. I was so worried the babies were in it yesterday and as I looked around it was just about all that was there. Thankfully they are fine but I guess I need to know what it is before I put them back out or have to move the coop. When it stops raining I'll go get a better snapshot of the plant. I had a friend suggest it was mulberry weed (Fatoua villosa). I was just trying to make sure it was alright for the chicks to eat.

 

[Chipper Chicken]

I think I found it. This was on an excellent website for plant ID (short for identification) that makes it simple to search by state, sun or shade, etc. http://www.wildflower.org/plants/

But, not sure yet of edible status, will add more as I find it......but this is what it looked like and fit the most closely

Acalypha rhomboidea Raf.
Common threeseed mercury, Virginia threeseed mercury
Euphorbiaceae (Spurge Family)

And the news..IF THIS IS IT.......(I'm not so sure now,)
.good is the birds would love the seeds.
Not so good, it's very invasive and as its in the euphorbia (spurge) family it will have a milky sap that can irritate. I do not think the chickens would find it palatable, but....probably not something you want them to eat very much of.
Maybe someone else has experience with it, but it doesn't grow out west (yet ) so I'm just going by the web reports.

So a quick test would be to snap a stem and see if there's a milky sticky liquid.
If that isn't it I'd grab a piece of it and (maybe do that anyway come to think of it) and have it in hand (at the website above) while you compare it to the list of possible matches. Hint. Put multiple choices in your searches. Ie check off both "sun" and "shade"; "under 1' and "1 - 1/2', ; "dry" and "moist" soil. It broadens the search to cover different conditions.

Sorry couldn't be more confident. Maybe a better picture would help....