is there such a thing as chicken proof plants?

[missychicky]

I am SICK of looking a my chickens run. It is either mud or dust depending on the season. I really want to put some plants in there. I know the chickens would eat the plants to death but are there any chicken proof plants? Some thing the chickens don't like?

 

[columbiacritter]

We are plant nuts so are fairly knowledgable and I'd say not anything you'd want to look at. Between thier abuse and the high nitrogen content of the soil nothing good will survive. A friend built his coop around a fairsized oak tree thinking it would have no issue with the chicken manure and would give his birds shade. In three years the tree was dead.

 

[Terri O]

You might be able to put something in pots with wire around to keep them away from the roots and stems. Then they could only eat what grows out...dont know if that would look much better than dirt though. Any way to make their area bigger so the plants have a better chance? I have a LOT of birds and they can free range over an acre. Only a few patches of places are totally bare. When they have to stay in I throw them trimmings from the garden so they still have that benefit. Terri O

 

[columbiacritter]

Quote:
Becareful with that, I had a hen actually flyup and drop down into an enclosed plant and get trapped. By the time I found her she'd about destroyedthe planta nd lost a lot of feathers trying to escape.

 

[FireTigeris]

mesh bags spray painted different colors (window screen mesh) around the pot and plant except the stem.

My birds perch in but do not eat my azalea (which is good because some parts are toxic)

 

[Wynette]

I used orange snow fencing & partitioned off part of my run last year, rototilled the heck out of the soil, and sprinkled seeds...it grew like mad, took maybe 6 weeks, and when I let them back in, it was probably a week and it was all gone. But, it was fun to watch it grow & fun to watch them eat it!

 

[darkmatter]

Grow tomatoes in chicken proof cylinder cages up to a trellis to drop tomatoes to the chickens till frost. I made mine out of concrete remesh, and then wrapped with finer mesh around to keep the chickens out.
Trees, if planting in an established run, will need to cage them until large enough, I'd suggest a variety of fruit trees to stagger the free food dropping to the chickens, mulberries in the spring, then stone fruits, then apples, then persimmons (in the Midwest)
(See my BYC page for the huge Mulberry trees in my run)

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Quote:
YES there are!! It's called Plastic!!! But then again, mine eat anything that doesn't eat them!!

 

[Megs]

chicken poo is so toxic i dont think much could survive even if they didnt eat it (which they would, lol), we have beautiful oak tree that almost died from being 200 feet away from several large chicke barns (was a chicken farm for years, meat birds), it has taken 15 years to recover.

 

[columbiacritter]

It seems to really depend on the chicken load you are putting in your run. A light load would let some trees survive, though I doubt they would thrive with so much nitrogen.

I have roses and corn planted downhill at the bottom of my run on the outside and some roses are showing over nitrogen stress so I am liming around them regularly. The corn will probably be really tall with few ears at that level of nitrogen overload.