I started a page of Chicken Proof Plants

[PineappleMama]

Quote:

Gorgeous. I'd be SO mad if my chickens ate THAT!

On the Cannas, those buggers grow like CRAZY, great for along fences as they get quite tall, but they need SUN. We've got some in our yard, running along the western (runs North South) fence and they just are not as awesome as the others I've seen planted EW. I think it's the sun exposure, in ours they get some... very short bit of full, but mostly dappled. Whereas the others I've seen get FULL all day long and are at least 1/3 taller... more blooms too. They're great because even MY brownish black thumb hasn't killed them... and mind they were ripped from Mom's yard, tossed in the trunk for a day or three, then driven over here and helter skelter tossed into holes (we weren't expecting her) and they're still growing... oh and we never water them either... and they survived through Texas 100+ summer days. Oh yeah, love the cannas.

 

[terri1nd]

I have a garden box I put my Zucchini in & the chickens got in the garden box. I put a fence on top of the garden box, the chickens still found a way in. So, I put another fence on top of the other fence & that seemed to work. I had a huge zucchini I had harvested & before I got it into the house, I had sat down to watch a couple of chickens & while I was holding the zucchini in my hand a couple other birds had taken chunks from the Zucchini. At that point I said what the heck, go for it, & as soon as it was discovered by the others I had 20 birds coming up taking bites from the zucchini while I was holding it. Some of the chickens had never approached me before so I was amazed to just watch the devour the zucchini

 

[spartacus_63]

I have raspberries along the fence. They love the berries, but do not eat the plants. I also have grapes. With grapes they will eat some of the leaves, but are not crazy about the fruit. I have never had them bother my butterfly bushes, except to scratch around them. The do not bother my lavender or mums either.

Do NOT put rhubarb on the list. They don't eat the stalks, but they LOVE the big leafy parts.

 

[RareBreedFancier]

One thing that concerns me is a LOT of the plants listed that people's chickens haven't destroyed are actually poisonous to them. They might be fine and avoid them most of the time and certainly some people never seem to have problems with their chickens eating poisonous things but personally I wouldn't take the chance.

One trick I used to use at my old place was to plant things in cages so they can establish and when they are big enough to grow through the cages the chickens can prune them but not totally destroy them. I also used to plant things in pots and rotate the pots in and out to recover. Works well if you have room in the garden for the pots and can give them a variety of plants to nibble.

Butterfly bushes are fantastic, I started them under cages to be safe but they never bothered them. They are great shade in hot summers and grow fast.

 

[oldchickenlady]

I am so glad someone thought of making this list. I built a large raised rock enclosed flower bed last year before I decided to get some chicks. I transplanted some Hostas that were in a bad place, planted Daffodil bulbs, some Monkey grass, and when it warmed up I added Begonias, a small fern, Zinnias, and some Thrift. Well, the Begonias were gone in a day, the bulbs were soon dug up due to the dustbathing, but the Hostas and Monkey grass were mostly let alone. The Zinnias were mostly messed up by dustbathing, but 1 or 2 survived to bloom. The fern, which I think was an asparagus fern, wasn't eaten so much as trampled. I had been wondering what I was going to do about this flower bed that I worked my a** off to haul the rocks and build. I have some leftover 1x2 welded wire I plan on laying down once I get more plants in it, so at least they cant dust bathe and dig the whole thing up again! Now I have a list of plants to choose from that, hopefully, wont get eaten and will survive the shady, partial sun area this bed is in. It only gets full sun for about an hour or so, so any shade loving options would be welcome!

 

[RiverKatt]

Depends on the kind of work you want to do with fast growing vines , Morning Glory dies back but comes back in good weather... I am using a Lady Banks Rose - beautiful when blooming , thornless and quick once they get going , as is Wisteria - IF you don't mind having to keep up with pruning cuz Wisteria will take out coops and houses if not well controlled, pruned and we have Hibiscus , our Tortoise loves it, especially the blooms , but not the chickens !