Is there any plant chickens won't eat in run?

[SproutGirl]

Hello!
I would like to plant something along the border of at least one side of the chicken run, but I don't want the whole plant to be eaten to death by the chickens. I was thinking that a little juniper hedge might be the thing, since I wouldn't think that would be tasty to a chicken, but I wouldn't know since this is my first time raising chickens! I have 2 Rhode Island Reds, and 4 Araucanas who are probably mixed with something else since they all look quite different. Is there anything I could plant in or along the run that the chickens might not completely eat to the ground? Any suggestions would be wonderful. I live in a 4/5 agricultural zone. Thank you!

 

[Katy]

The problem is even if they don't eat it they usually scratch around it so much it dies.

 

[SproutGirl]

Good point, Katy, thank you! I wonder if some large-ish rocks around the base of the plants would help. Here in Montana, we've got no no shortage of rocks, that's for sure!

 

[FutureChickenMan]

leave the plant in the pot, cut the bottom of the pot off so the roots can grow down. put the plant in the ground with the pot still on it. put rocks around the base of the plant until it's established (1 season).

 

[Ga Chicken Mom]

My chickens ate junipers! You would think they taste terrible. The only plant my chickies didn't eat was a small, native holly bush. It wasn't in the run though because they were free ranging at the time. DH and I finally decided to make a cicken run since all the bushes and plants were being eaten and the back yard looked like it had been hit by rocket bombs. Oh, and I always give them greens twice a day to supplement their layer food. If you find a chicken proof plant, please post!

 

[catfish]

Cedars, I had some bathams that lived in a big cedar for a couple years.

 

[seedcorn]

horseradish, grows large leaves for shade, chicks and their manure won't kill it.

Also have grape on pen fence, leave grape plant alone, love it when I feed them grapes in fall.

 

[claud]

I planted a forsynthia bush in our run. I just staked around it and put plastic netting around it for the first season until it got big enough that they didn't bother it. Just so you know - these bushes can get really big but are good for shade.
The only thing that's actually growing(besides the bushes) in the run is a couple of patches of catnip - guess they don't like that.

 

[mangled]

I have Pampas (Pappas??) grass planted around my run. It grows tall enough to provide shade for the girls, and they don't seem to eat it. It was one of the few things that wasn't destroyed in the flowerbed last year, as well.

We just burn it down plant by plant at the end of every year, and it comes back beautifully the next.

Em

 

[Dawn419]

Comfrey and Jerusalem Artichoke are two I'm trying this year. They are supposed to be pretty chicken-proof, we'll see!

Hope this helps!

Dawn


P.S. I have extra jerusalem artichke tubers if anyone would like to try a few, they can be invasive, though.