Plants for Run

They would be safe but they won't survive in a run

 

You'd have to protect them with wire, so the chickens don't eat them down to nothing. Or maybe plant them at one end that's sectioned off. Your poultry would love the fruit, though!

I have my fruit bushes out in the yard and let my chickens eat the fruit there. You could think about doing something like that, too. Or planting them around the outside of the run. Even if you don't normally free range, maybe you could let your chickens out for a little bit at the end of the day to eat the fruit. Mine will jump up in the air to pick fruit. It's very cute!

 

What if you planted small trees in the run for them to roost on during the day would eat those to the ground and what if i planted grass in my run before i got chickens.

 

I have ducks and they will nibble to death anything as well. To have plants in your run, surround the plants with poultry wire or netting. Plants in the run IS a good idea, you just have to realize the true nature of your destructive little beasties. I have grape vines on the sides of my run. Any leaves and grapes on the duck's side is fair game. They LOVE the tender leaves and shoots. There is still plenty of plant on the yard side of the fence for the plants to thrive and for me to get my share.

I also grow clover and other greens that ducks love in little "oasis" areas. The main plant is protected by wire, but the ducks get to nibble on anything that pokes through. They get snacks all summer this way. Without the wire surround they would eat it to the ground in seconds.

 

I tried various plants, bushes and grasses and my chickens either ate or tromped them to death!

I then planted evergreen shrubs and taller established lilac bushes. They picked leaves off the lilac around bottom and where they jumped up to get them..... The evergreen they could not harm at all. Mostly they hung out around and under it for shade..... The rose of sharon and crabapple trees work well also.

Any type of vines I planted on outside to climb up they ruined also. They also will reach thru the fence to eat anything you plant on the outside!

 

I did try growing beans on the outside of my quail pen last year. Did you know quail LOVE bean plants? Neither did I until I found them pulling the vine through the wire and pecking it to death

 

do any of you know how to put a picture by your posts

 

I have brambles in my chicken run. I do protect them early in the year, but I don't know if I have to. My chicken run is about two acres. The canes are pretty substantial and my girls are more interested in the bugs hidden in the dirt around them than in the plant itself.

 

Go on your profile and use the avatar link. It has sto be small though or you have to resize it. Terri o