Plants that chickens will allow to exist

[Mamatomany123]

I was thinking of trying lavender or rosemary. Not my favorite plants, but if the chickens leave them alone, it'll add some color and also provide more shade for the summer heat.

My chickens tore apart 3 lavender plants.

 

[Painted Calls]

My chickens tore apart 3 lavender plants.

Gah... Not what I was hoping to hear lol.

 

[Lumikko]

Anyone have any luck with lavender? I'd like to try planting some around the perimeter of the run. Not sure if it would last though.

I have lavender in their bigger run area. They do peck at it but not enough to cause major damage. However, they seem to enjoy stamping all over it. The 5 week old babies were trying to dust bathe in it yesterday. Not in the dirt under it..actually in the plant ...

 

[Mamatomany123]

Gah... Not what I was hoping to hear lol.

Yeah. Those plants weren't even in the run. I let them out in the afternoon to roam the yard and they always ran straight for the lavender plants. These girls wont touch 1 of the gazillion ants we have but run straight for the plant they're supposed to hate

 

[ColtHandorf]

I had a huge area of iris that none of my birds ever bothered many years ago. I also kept some fruiting trees (plums and peaches) in their runs and they did quite well as long as the leaves and fruit were out of reach. I planted muscadine grapes along fences that were shared between runs and laid tomato cages along the base of the fence to protect the roots. The birds would go into the cages and lounge in the shade. They never bothered the leaves much, and the fruit was a nice treat.