Ideas for a "Treat Garden" around run perimeter

[AUtiger]

I am thinking about putting in a nice little fall/winter veggie bed on the outside fence of our chicken coop/run about 2 ft wide and 8 ft long. They will be able to stick their heads through and nibble a little at it, and it will toss in greens and such as treats this winter. This is "their" bed.
Besides kale and lettuces, what are a few other things I can put in there?
Will they eat mums if I add those for color? Pansies? (later)
How about sugar snap peas, will they devour the plants as they climb the fence before i ever see a pea?

Am I just asking for a scratched up disaster area?

 

[Junochick]

I am thinking about putting in a nice little fall/winter veggie bed on the outside fence of our chicken coop/run about 2 ft wide and 8 ft long. They will be able to stick their heads through and nibble a little at it, and it will toss in greens and such as treats this winter. This is "their" bed.
Besides kale and lettuces, what are a few other things I can put in there?
Will they eat mums if I add those for color? Pansies? (later)
How about sugar snap peas, will they devour the plants as they climb the fence before i ever see a pea?

Am I just asking for a scratched up disaster area? [/QUOTE
Spinach, marigolds , peas ,cucumber , carrots and pumpkin they love fresh veggies

 

[Chickassan]

They love mums and yes you are asking for a big ole scratched up mess.Forget peas you will never see them! Get big potted mums enjoy them for a few days then kiss them goodbye. Not being a garden pooper just I've got experience lol!

 

[Junochick]

Everything I wrote disappeared spinach,carrots,peas,cucumber,pumpkin I think a garden bed next to their run would be pretty

 

[AUtiger]

They love mums and yes you are asking for a big ole scratched up mess.Forget peas you will never see them! Get big potted mums enjoy them for a few days then kiss them goodbye. Not being a garden pooper just I've got experience lol!

Maybe i'll get some hanging baskets for the stuff I don't want them to eat and leave the ground for the greens.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I have 2 garden beds in the run with the chickens (fenced off of course, though they keep trying to break in!) and 1 bed right outside, plus a border of nasturtium flowers along 2 edges. I do have sugar snap peas trellised on the chicken run. The peas are doing surprisingly well considered the chickens picked off all the leaves they could reach (they don't understand how to eat pea pods though).

The trick is to fence off access to the pea plants until they're big enough to survive being picked at, and to not have the main stem close enough for the chickens to tear apart. Peas grow amazingly fast so it doesn't take long. Established plants survive just fine losing some leaves.

 

[lazy gardener]

I planted day lilies around the outside of my bird's run. they ate them down to little nubs. Better luck with zucchini. Any thing you plant, they will devour, if they can reach it. You might consider doing some planting boxes: made of 2 x 4 with HW cloth over the top. Plant inside the box, and the birds can eat the greenery as it grows past the HW cloth. I prefer sprouting grains for the birds during the winter "frozen ground" months.

 

[Chaerie]

Try some dandelion, my birds just love them. I'm planning on doing trays in my regular garden and we also have a bonsai garden, and planting greens and dandelion, once they grow a bit the trays can easily be moved by the run. Then my birds can peck away, and the greens will grow back because they're already established.