Gardens for your run and chickens

[Sallysec]

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone built gardens specific for the use of their chickens. I have been growing a small scale vegetable garden for my family, and since chickens are joining us shortly, I thought I might try to setup some garden beds for them to enjoy next spring. I plan to let them snack on weeds and clippings from the current garden, but around their play area I was thinking of planting some Hostas a little lavendar or some mint in large containers. I thought the heavy scent of mint or lavendar might make the coop smell a little fresher...and also I like the idea of attracting a few bugs for them, and right now the area is overgrown with English ivy. Any pictures? Recommendations? Things to stay away from? I planned on growing them some sunflowers next year as well for a treat.

New to Chickens...New to Life

Thanks!
~S

 

[NightHawk123]

Love your garden. We do the same here. This year was the first year we planted oats. All our egg layers free range and as soon as the oats started drying out in the garden they went crazy and ate them all before we could harvest them. We grew them for the chickens so it was less work for us at the end. Next spring I plan on planting 2x the oats. It's funny watching them jump up to get the oats off the grain stalks. All you see is their head when they jump up to get the oats .

 

[maizy'smom]

Our coop is under the holly tree, and so is in total shade. So, unfortunately, the lavender and mint idea won't work. But, partly because of the chickens, and partly because of the ground hog, my vegetable garden already consists of five large pots on the bench going around the edge of my deck, each one circled with its own chicken wire cage. In the pots I raise various kinds of tomatoes, some rainbow chard, and a mixture of lettuces. When the lettuces were done and had bolted, I took the cage off and put the pot on the ground for the girls. It was plucked naked within three hours. The chard too is gone, but I think it was the ground hog who ate it...I hadn't put the pot on the ground before it was gone. I've been watching the tomatoes like a hawk. I even harvested the last two Cherokee purples and two green zebras this morning, since they were hanging, temptingly, over the edge of the protective cages. I did have chocolate mint under the rose bush, that I did not stop the girls from free ranging....it smelled so nice when they scratched at it. But I think they have completely wiped it out, at this point.
Generally, I think the idea of gardening for or with chickens is primarily a matter of timing. Timing when you want the chickens to access the plants...before or after you've gotten what you want out of them for yourself.

mm

 

[Sallysec]

Night hawk how much space do you use for the oats?

 

[NightHawk123]

I planted around 2000 square feet this past spring. About the same area a house would sit.

 

[kellypepperk]

ohhh, I'm glad I found this thread! Sallysec - beautiful garden! I've been thinking about doing the same thing in the Spring. I HAD some beautiful petunias, but the chickers turned that repurposed hub cap into a dust bath! So, I will most certainly have a dust bath station, but I would like to plant some chicken-proof / chicken-good plants for them.

 

[Queen Bee]

I always plant a very large patch of green seeds (mustard/kale/rape/spinach/collards/radish/ etc) and lots of pumpkins/winter squash. I don't let them free range all the time, so these are picked for their pleasure, daily, during the fall/winter/spring. We plant 2 acres of sunflowers for the wildlife and chickens... I cut the entire heads and hang them on the fence. I also place a cup full of bird seed in an area of the coop that has been cleared, water well, cover with a pc of cardboard or wood. In a few days, I move it to another place repeating the seeds/water... The girls LOVE it... Nice tender sprouts, bugs, worms.... My children accuse me of ' spoiling the chickens"

 

[LAfrizzle]

Love the idea with the birdseed! I'm going to have to try that. We have a tractor for ours (2 Buff Orpingtons, 3 NH Reds, a Black Bantam Frizzle and Bob the Wheaton Game Bantam who keeps them all in line!) I made a nice pen for them extending their area and move it around the yard every few weeks. They were free range for a while but when I saw one on a wall planter on my patio I had to take back my yard. They love the tomato worms I am still finding on my plants. I am getting up to 5 eggs a day so they are happy.

 

[Sallysec]

wow great ideas, I love the idea of planting oat, I just don't have enough space. I can just see myself telling my husband "honey we need to move, because I need more space to grow oats for the chickens we don't have yet" lol. I have been growing cabbage and sunflowers and I was thinking they store really well for the winter. If I store them I could use the whole heads for winter amusements and treats for the cooped up birds. I like the idea of just cutting the entire sunflower head down storing it in a mesh bag in the house until mid winter and then giving it to the chickens. I have butternut squash etc as well that I could keep some to the side for the birds. I figured hosta is so hardy and my dogs would lay in it and eat it as puppies so why not the chickens. Anyone have any plants they know we cant use? Something that chickens cant stomach etc?

 

[mickey328]

Really glad to see this thread! I'm trying to decide what to plant and where next spring...mostly for the birds We only got our girls about 7 weeks ago....long after this year's garden went in, and while lots of what we did plant is suitable for them, I want to increase it a lot next year.

I do a lot of medicinals with herbs and such and had planted 3 patches (about 6 sq ft or so each) of oats in our front yard this spring, and a patch of clover (both are very nutritious for humans as well as critters) The clover is a perennial, so I just lop it off and toss it in the run and they gobble it up! It's hilarious watching them run around with the long stems hanging from their beaks...like a kid with a string of spaghetti. With the oats, I cut off the tops and they snarf up all the seeds. Once the stalks are completely dry, I'll cut them and use them as bedding in the coop. Next year I'll put in a few more patches of them front and back. The plants are really quite attractive when they're scatter sowed in patches like that...rather like ornamental grass. Obviously we don't have enough space to provide more than a very small percentage of feed for the birds, but every little bit helps, and they love it. This fall, I plan to put in a few patches of winter wheat and winter rye as well; come spring it should pop up and I'll do the same thing with it as I did with the oats. I put in a couple comfrey plants this spring too and they've taken off. Guess what? Chickens love it!

Come spring, I'm going to put in some alfalfa...the wonder plant, LOL. It's really nutritious for us and the critters, is a perennial which if cut just after the first flower or two, will come back several times in a season, and is a nitrogen fixer, enriching the soil. When it's ready, we'll just mow it down for the girls. What they don't eat, we'll dry and save for the winter. Besides a patch or two, we'll scatter a few seeds in the back lawn as well...that way the chickens can forage on it. Learned today that they like parsley a lot too, so besides my planter on the kitchen windowsill for cooking, I'll be putting some in the back yard border for them as well.

Gonna put in some sunflowers as well...the regular and some BOSS. I'll have to cover the heads once they start ripening or there won't be any seeds left, but like you, Sally, I'll save the whole head and give it to them in the winter. I'm going to utilize the stalks too...I'll plant runner beans at the base and let them climb the stock. The dried beans keep practically forever and if cooked, the birds love them and it's an extra source of protein for them.

We have portable coop/run which gets moved around to a new spot every 3 or 4 days, so most of the stuff I grow will be cut and tossed in to them..spoiled, or what? LOL. I love the idea of the sprouts, QueenBee but since ours are moved so frequently, I don't think it would work for us. However, I do have plans to sprout stuff indoors for them over the winter so they have some nice fresh treats then too.

I make yogurt and cottage cheese for them, as well as cooked pinto beans (some how I ended up with bags and bags of them) which are all great protein supplements and between that, kitchen trimmings, stuff from the current garden, and weeds, I calculate that since we've had them, we've reduced their intake of commercial feed by 20 to 25%. Not that the feed isn't available to them...it's always there, but they fill up on so much of the other stuff they just don't eat their "full servings" every day. Every little bit helps.

I've been looking for a "safe plant" list but haven't found it The treat chart does show a lot of stuff that might be helpful: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens