Introducing chickens to an existing garden with toxic plants

[serenden]

We have a decent sized suburban backyard that we've been cultivating for 4-5 years now, and recently came home with 4 chicks. We have a beautiful rhododendron that finally bloomed for the first time this year, as well as california poppies and two kinds of ferns (western sword fern and giant chain fern), arum italicum, milkweed, and sweet peas.

My question is, has anyone ever introduced chickens to a garden where toxic plants grow, and had them die or suffer because they ingested the plants? I keep reading that chickens tend to avoid plants that taste bitter or are toxic, especially if there are other choices nearby. I plan on planting some plants specifically for them (to try to deter them from eating MY herbs...), and there are lots of other plants . I just hate to let them loose out there to meet their poisonous death! Thanks for sharing any experiences.

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

Chickens will eat any herb(s) in their path. Maybe it's true that they will leave it after they know it tastes bad or makes them sick, but chickens don't have the best memory.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Mine have never touched the ferns, poppies, or rhodies (they do nibble on the azaleas, which are in the same category I think). As a general rule, as long as there's chicken safe options available, they should favor eating those and will either spitefully kill or ignore the rest.

 

[serenden]

Mine have never touched the ferns, poppies, or rhodies (they do nibble on the azaleas, which are in the same category I think). As a general rule, as long as there's chicken safe options available, they should favor eating those and will either spitefully kill or ignore the rest.

Good to know, thanks. I mean, I know it's a bit of a risk, but I hate to pull out all our favorite plants!

 

[Acre4Me]

You me biggest risk is them digging things up. Bye bye poppies etc. chickens scratch, dig and dust bathe and don’t have the best manners. They like to find cool shady spots to hang out, sleep and lay eggs so a garden area sounds about right to them.

 

[serenden]

You me biggest risk is them digging things up. Bye bye poppies etc. chickens scratch, dig and dust bathe and don’t have the best manners. They like to find cool shady spots to hang out, sleep and lay eggs so a garden area sounds about right to them.

Sigh... Yeah that's what I figure. Well, it's more fun to have chickens and my kid running around enjoying themselves than it is to have nice flowers to look at, I suppose..... We'll see what survives, as long as it's the chickens!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Sigh... Yeah that's what I figure. Well, it's more fun to have chickens and my kid running around enjoying themselves than it is to have nice flowers to look at, I suppose..... We'll see what survives, as long as it's the chickens!

If you limit how much time they have out, you may be able to strike a balance. Mine only come out for a short period each day (they're usually in a sizeable run) and so they don't have time to really destroy the garden. Helps that they've taken a liking to my side lawn which is quite overgrown, so they're welcome to destroy whatever they want over there.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

So I would remove anything thats ridiculously toxic (like a nibble could kill them), but I've never had trouble with chickens messing with my oakleaf hydrangea, gladiolus plants, etc. If they did, they'd likely just have the runs for a day.

I'd also highly recommend putting large flat paving stones around the base of your favorite plants and/or fencing them in. My chickens are lazy, so all they need to stay out of non-edible plant areas like the gladiolus is cheap 2 foot tall fence panels. They have black wire ones like fake wrought-iron or plastic fake picket fences at most home improvement stores. It's kinda cute as a garden border anyway, so I like it. For edibles like my blueberries, we went with tall chicken wire fencing until after harvest.

But the pavers at the base of plants keep the chickens from scratching up the roots looking for bugs/digging a dirt bath. Leave gaps between the pavers for water to get to the roots though. I use that technique for larger things like rosemary, shrubs, etc. and sometimes to protect perennials when they are first sprouting.

 

[PetitePlume]

Sigh... Yeah that's what I figure. Well, it's more fun to have chickens and my kid running around enjoying themselves than it is to have nice flowers to look at, I suppose..... We'll see what survives, as long as it's the chickens!

If you can find some big flat rocks, you can put them around your plants. This is how the ones that are not edible survided here. They also like to go for the young ones. So maybe a super temporary fence while the plants get some strenght would make a difference.
If you put your herbs in your garden, I would recommend you to start thinking about plan B if you want to be able to harvest some, or any...

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Chickens will eat any herb(s) in their path. Maybe it's true that they will leave it after they know it tastes bad or makes them sick, but chickens don't have the best memory.

I have not found this to be true at all. We have a whole scad of beautiful lilies in our garden, which are toxic to chickens, and they don't touch them at all. They do huddle under them for shade, and scratch under them for bugs. The lilies love all this attention and cultivating, not to mention the fertilizing, and are thriving. They have been sharing the space for about five years with no casualties on either side..

Our chickens also free range part of the day. We have a mad assortment of other bulb flowers, including daffodils and irises and many more lilies and the chickens do not bother them at all. It seems to me that chickens must naturally avoid toxic plants in nature, as must all birds and wild things. Otherwise they would soon become extinct.