Chickens, yaupon, and wild birds

[gumbita]

Hi!
We are getting our first backyard chickens next week and we will have a large coop and fully enclosed run that they will be in most of the time, but I was thinking about also fencing off the back of the yard for more occasional foraging for them (I have a veggie garden I want to keep them out of most of the time My question is about the location of this extra fenced area. In a section of it, there are very tall yaupon bushes that have been groomed more into short trees (the leaves and berries are about 3-4 feet from the ground). I've read mixed reports about chickens eating yaupon and or the berries, and also we have a lot of wild birds, Cardinals, etc that come to our yard and sometimes they sit in the yaupon. Would having the chickens under the yaupon be problematic for them either eating it, or the wild birds infecting them???

 

[ColtHandorf]

I've had yaupon present in pen with chickens with no adverse effects.

 

[Rasputin66]

Yaupon is safe for human consumption and was used in rituals by Indigenous Americans for centuries. It doesn't taste the best but it is safe. I wouldn't worry about the birds.