Plants around run? Berrys, grapes, etc?

[Birddog1148]

What harm if any will it do to plant grapes, blueberry, rasberry, etc around the chicken run? Figured it will give them some cover/shade and we could share the fruit.

 

[Imp]

I don't think those will cause any problem. All those fruits and leaves are eaten by people.
Might have to protect the plants from the chickens, if they have access.

Imp

 

[cadeschicks]

I was about to post a really similar question. Like the OP, I was planning on planting fruits and vegetables around the run to provide shade and treats for the chickens. My question is, there are a lot of posts talking about what you can feed your chickens, but I haven't really seen any lists about chicken no-no plants.

Are there any plants/foods that are toxic to chickens? Not just fruit/vegetable garden plants but also landscaping plants (azaleas, gardenias, grass varieties) that should be kept away from chickens?

 

[Themehmeh]

I don't know about grapes. Dogs can't have grapes, but dogs aren't chickens. I'd still be careful with them. I was planning on planting some blueberries and raspberries around the coop and having some hanging plants on the rafters that stick out past the coop with maybe some strawberries in them.

 

[dainerra]

just bear in mind that chickens don't share! they will pick bare any of the plants that they can reach.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I can highly recommend grape vines. We harvest most of the grapes but the chickens love the leaves. It provides great shade and forage for several months out of the year here.


Here are a couple of pics taken of my run two years ago. The first is what my run looks like in the spring and the second is what it looks like in May. The vines are much larger now and will cover a new trellis that is up over top of the coop by mid summer. They do keep the inside of the run neatly cropped to chicken-jumping height, but there are so many vines on the outside that they drape to the ground, where they are neatly trimmed to desert tortoise height.

 

[Birddog1148]

Well planted some yellow rasberrys and green grapes outside the run.