:eek:?Pea Tree Hedge? Do tell!!
🤔Do you like it? Do the chooks like/eat the 'peas' it produces? Do you like it? How tall will they get in your climate (or do you not know because you trim them?)?🤔

:confused:I've read about Pea Trees, but some of it was conflicting info :confused:(small bits from multiple sources.)
Cold hardy to zone 2, great because we can hit -35F without Wind chill. Deer bed down on the lea side (closer to the house) but don't typically browse the hedge) Peas 30% protein...yes the chickens eat it (goldfinches love it too). Bees and hummingbirds love the flowers. Ours is pushing 12 feet high. Interestingly, I ran across some info claiming that it has colorfast dye properties (some kind of blue which is rare in natural dyes), but haven't been able to find more info ont hat part. people can eat the peas too (kinda like lentils). have a lilac hedge along another side of the property which bloom time is offset (great for bee food). those don't draw the birds (other than the hummers) like the pea shrub does. RC found out its considered invasive in New Jersey so check with your state before planting it (I have sprouts if you want to come get next spring). The chickens happily run through it for the grasshoppers on the other side in the summer, but stay close for aerial protection. also works well for ground predator evasion (the dog came around it and found them on the opposite side of the house, closer to the coop, but dog is no longer out here so good).
Pea shrub does like water, but once established, will tolerate drought conditions (I tend to provide water to anything that looks like it's wilting a tiny bit). Drops it's leaves fairly early and seed pods start exploding in July so bird food available early in harvest schedule, but hide well so can be found well into winter too.
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Current appearance

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About 3 years ago


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Summer foliage (background hedge)
 
I'm so sorry Marie. You and the ladies deserve better.

As long as they are out of the wind they should be fine. Lilly has survived temps down to -10°F (-23°C) and possibly lower with no ill effects. Chickens are cold hardy.
Mine have tolerated (reluctantly) -35F (-40 is same on both scales). At those temps, I don't want them out, have heat source inside coop, royal fight to keep water thawed in coop and 2 separate crock pots heating water outside for them. 1 on sunny but windy side, behind bushes/under porch and 1 toward back of carport behind the washer turned into compost bin so they have wind blockage if it comes from that direction. As long as they have access to thawed water and food, they (wisely) don't want to leave the coop. The tarp/sheeting to block the wind is a good idea. You could even fasten the tarp vertically several feet/yards/meters away from the coop/run as a wind block. If you go that route, aim for wrapping it around a post/tree (something tall and straightish) to create 2 sides (the sides most of the wind comes from) while helping reflect the weaker winter sun into the most sheltered areas. Use the grommets and bungee cords or ropes to secure the corners and sides (stakes for the bottom edge).
 
Can't you just see Aurora trying to hog the remote! 🤣
Yes! Just yesterday in the big run Hazel got Butters and Popcorn away from a scattering of cracked corn by giving a short aerial predator call. Both Popcorn and Butters ran into the coop run a couple feet away and froze alert, watching the sky. Butters crouching, Popcorn neck up. Hazel was unperturbed, barely missing a beat eating. She would manage to get control of the remote and have the entire room to herself!
 

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