hosta

[ben is a terror]

i want to plant Hosta around the chicken coop. also in the duck run. Am I wasting my time and money?

 

[Imp]

There have been lots of posts about chickens eating and destroying Hostas.

Imp

 

[ben is a terror]

Any other ideas? It looks so barren Just dirt

 

[CowgirlPenny]

You could do a chick salad bar for grass if it looks bare. I was going to show you pictures but the original poster deleted her pics!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=482852&p=1

 

[GardenerGal]

Hostas are ducks' and chickens' idea of a buffet.

Actually, hostas are edible for humans too. In Japan, people harvest the tender young shoots but leave a few for the plant since they only grow one set of leaves a year. Chickens and ducks wouldn't be so generous, and your hostas would be history.

 

[welasharon]

Mine have left the daylillies alone so far since July. Most of the fleshy plants were scratched up rather quickly. Everything else that made it is mostly bushes or well established plantings.
sharon

 

[AquaEyes]

Do you mean on the outside or on the inside? Have you thought about a climbing rose for the outside? You could use the wire of the coop as a trellis. If you caged in the roses for the first year or two until you got some growth that was out of beak-reach, I think you would be safe.

Anything to get more people addicted to roses . Hehehe.

 

[Thegrayeyedgirl]

hehe, just ask Barbara the barred rock...she has her own thread in the chicken stories section. Pink hostas are her favorite snack!

 

[Bleenie]

When I had my old flock, it seemed like they would eat anything i planted next to the coop that they could reach, those chickens were in the coop all the time. My new flock free ranges as much as possible and I just finished planting some lilacs, azaleas, jap. maples, other decorative bushes and some small flowers in beds... they 'tasted' a flower from the azalea and havent touched anything since, not even the small, nummy-looking leaves on the lilac sprouts. We also have some hostas by the house but the birds have never touched them, thankfully!

I think when they're stuck in the coop they get bored and will pick at anything they can reach.

 

[ben is a terror]

so many good ideas. I think they hear Hosta and started getting the salad dressing and croutons