chickens and landscaping

[kmetzker]

my girls have a few strange favorites in my yard and seem to ignore any plants that are actually edible for humans. i'm wondering if there is anything that can be sprayed on plants (like a pepper spray or that bitter apple stuff to keep dogs way) that is natural and won't hurt them or the environment.

any one heard of anything like that?

thanks!!

 

[macdoogle2]

I dont know myself but would be interested to hear from someone that does. I planted society garlic in the run thinking they wouldn't like it but it was gone by the next day.

 

[debid]

Chickens are known to like the hot pepper taste (some people actually put cayenne in their homemade chicken mixes!) and mine definitely did not mind getting the lettuce that had bolted and was unbearably bitter to me. I hope somebody has an alternate idea for you because I can't think of anything short of either fencing them out or sticking with plants that a chicken won't eat unless it's starving.

 

[centrarchid]

Mine do not seem to eat milkweed. They also seem to avoid anything with red on it where I live now but they used to eat red things.

 

[Fowl97]

Quote:
I am almost positive Milkweed is poisonous. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=208032. I would be Careful With that around your Chickens and any other animals. That is why Monarch butterflies lay their eggs on the milkweed plant. other animals will usually stay away and the catapillers eat the milkweed and store the poison so no one eats them when they turn into a butterfly

 

[centrarchid]

Several milkweed species are toxic and multiple milkweed-eating insects species adopt consumed toxins to prevent their being consumed. Most of those insects are bright red.

Several species of milkweed are dispersed throughout pasture and removing it is not practical. Other toxic plants or at least fowl tasting to chickens seem to consume only very small amounts and they also consume other plants known to be toxic to humans. Toxic to humans may not mean toxic to chickens.

 

[kmetzker]

i do actually have a milkweed plant and they leave it alone.

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
For giggles, put some red pepper on plants you do not want consumed. The taste will not stop consumption but color might. My birds tempered by fowl tasting red insects seem to avoid anything with red on it, possibly thanks to the milkweeds I have.

 

[kmetzker]

i'll try it! they ate a bunch of pink flowers but i'll try red and see if it works!

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
Experiment to try if they eat still. Catch a couple of the bright red beetles or bugs that hang out on the milkweed, sprinkle the red pepper on them and offer the whole mix to your birds. You may be able to condition your birds to associate the red of the pepper with the horrible taste of the red insect.


Beetle image
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...e&hl=en&biw=961&bih=599&gbv=2&tbm=isch&itbs=1


Bug image
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_yROYiW3ykhQ/Svd9UjlO52I/AAAAAAAACZU/F71lM1TLzKE/s800/Red-MilkweedBug7.jpg