plants in/around coop

[lily1]

After all of your suggestions and some research I have planted evergreen bamboo inside and a grape vine next to the run. I fenced off the bamboo for the fall so it will get rooted. Then supposedly they can eat the lower leaves(nontoxic) but it wont hurt the taller stalks. I am hoping this gives them a place to sneak away to. The grapes are deciduous and should provide shade and nibbles in the summer and as the leaves fall let sunlight in the winter. Thanks for all your input.

 

[BWKatz]

Honeysuckle is a great climbing vine and also comes with the bright orange flowers. Marigolds also keep mosquitoes away.

 

[imtc]

I did cucumber on the back side of my run. They will nibble at it thru the fence so I used trellises to help angle them upward till it's over where they can reach...then it can attach to their run fencing. Worked pretty well and gave them a lot of shade.

 

[SandyK]

My girls love the grapes. It was so cute seeing them jumping up to get the lower ones. A bonus is they do all the clean up from those that fall on the ground. It's always a good idea to let the chickens run in the gardens when the season is over. They turn the soil and go after those bugs, plus fertilize it for us!

 

[elmo]

Bamboo is great once it gets established. It will take a few years to really get going, but then it's wonderful. In the spring, when the new shoots come up, I just chop off at ground level anything that comes up where I don't want it. That's basically it for the year until next spring.

I bought a single bamboo plant for around $6 ten years ago, and it's now filled in all of the empty spaces next to our house and down the fence line next to the pool and around the winter coop and run. It needs no watering, and stays green year round. Can't beat that!