fruiting hedge/bush for chickens?

[BonnieBlue]

In my area temperatures go from a minimum of - 6c in winter up to +40c in summer. Raspberries do fine, with watering they carry fruits throughout the whole good season. The easiest way to get hardy plants is getting some locally farmed raspberries so they're used to the soil and climate. I love blueberries a whole lot, I tried to plant them but it's too hot and too sunny here for them, and the plants die after a year or 2. Raspberries on the other hand are a literal pest. I have to mow them regularly or they would already have replaced half my lawn. They spread extremely fast.

Interesting. Because here, blueberries do well. We even have commercial blueberry farms. But our extension service even says that raspberries are not recommended here because they do so poorly. I guess it is dependent on more than temperature.

 

[Altairsky]

I think the soil type plays a big role. Blueberry do very well on soil rich in organic matter that drains water well. Our soil is basically clay, and suffers from water stagnation.

 

[Awaytome]

Cotoneaster parneyi makes a nice hedge and produces berries that the birds like. Probably not something kids would like to eat though. Red currants are another option. The chickens eat the berries, you can make delicious jelly, and the shrubs don’t spread like raspberries.

 

[pecky33]

Mulberries drop little fruits that are easy for chickens to eat.
Apples have fruits that you may be able to store for later, if it makes too many at once.
Peaches have soft skins that would be easy for chickens to peck through.
Avocados have tougher skins, and you might have to break the fruits open for chickens to eat the insides.
Oranges have tough skins and some people recommend not giving citrus fruits to chickens, so maybe not the best choice.
Blueberries make a bush rather than a tree.
Coconuts are probably not easy for a chicken to eat.

Of all these options, I just wanna throw out there that I’ve had Mulberry, Apple, and Peach trees IN my chicken run before. They LOVE the fruits of these trees! Keep in mind, though, rotten fruit on the ground attracts a ton of flies! Also, the mulberries are VERY messy! They stain skin and clothing very easily! (They never really seemed to stain the chickens, though. )