Poison Ivy around Coop

[kaboyer23]

I have lots of poison ivy plants near my chicken coop. I’m wanting to spray the plants to get rid of them since we’re working on clearing out that area (next to the coop). But if I buy and use a spray from the store... wouldn’t those chemicals hurt or kill my chickens? Just from the scent of if the wind took some of the spray to the run area.
Any suggestions on how to get rid of the poison ivy without hurting or killing my girls would be appreciated!

 

[ChemicalchiCkns]

Do not on any Account burn it!!

 

[LittleMissCountry]

I had a big patch of it about ten feet from my coop. I started trying to dig it out, but the roots went everywhere! I ended up covering the coop with a plastic drop cloth, spraying the poison ivy, and not letting the chickens out free range for a few days.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know which chemical you are talking about using. What does the label say about using it around animals? My concerns would be injury to the animals but also is there a withdrawal time before it is safe to teat the eggs.

Is the poison ivy outside the coop and run area so you are only worried about the mist from the spray drifting in to the chicken area? Then spray when there is no wind or when the wind is blowing another direction. Or if it is in liquid form, put some of the liquid in a small cup and use a small paint brush to paint the poison on the poison ivy plant.

Contact, phone or e-mail, the manufacturer of the herbicide and discuss it with them.

I don't know of any way to get rid of poison ivy that actually works other than an herbicide made for it. It keeps coning back from the roots unless you kill the roots.

 

[HopeSprings]

Yes, dig it out as the leaves are a menace even after they die! Put on long sleeves and heavy rubber gloves and bag it all! Or hire someone! Or get goats to eat it!

 

[Snow mom]

Honestly, I think manually removing poison ivy is the way to go. I wear long sleeves, long pants, and heavy duty dish gloves (nitrile) that I bought on amazon. Don't touch your bare skin with your gloves--put your hair up so you won't be tempted to brush it out of your face if applicable. Pull as close to the base of the plant as possible and bag and throw out. I had a lot less problems with resprouting when pulling than when spraying. I've probably cleared an acre plus of solid poison ivy (I joke it is the state plant of MA). I just throw my poison ivy clothes and gloves in the washer and haven't had problems with either transfer of giving myself poison ivy and I'm wicked allergic but YMMV.

 

[flyin-lowe]

Everyone has there own opinion on chemicals and round up. I have sprayed it near my coop. When I do I do not let me chickens out until the weeds are brown and dead and it has been rained on at least one. I have never seen them eat the dead/brown weeds and the go for the more green lush foliage in the area. Some people will never use chemicals under any circumstances.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've tried vinegar on other things, not Poison Ivy. Just regular grass and weeds on a gravel driveway and gravel parking area. This was the regular vinegar you buy a the store, really weak. It did not work, I wound up using round-up to kill the grass and weeds. Maybe I would have had better results if I'd found some industrial strength vinegar instead of that 5% to 6% stuff you find at the grocery store.

If you do try something, please come back and give us an update on how it worked. Not what someone else said or something you read but your actual experiences. Your actual experiences have value.

I have used round-up on poison ivy. It knocked the vegetation back but the stuff still came back from the roots. I know it's not what you read will happen, round-up is supposed to kill the roots, but that was my experience. I now use a brush killer on poison ivy, hat seems to kill the roots. It does not kill seeds already in the ground that can sprout later. Birds can still deposit seeds, especially in fence rows where they perch. It is really challenging to permanently eradicate poison ivy, especially if it is growing and going to seed anywhere near, but you can make its life very hard.

I have nor seen where the OP, @kaboyer23 came back after the first post. I don't know if they got anything beneficial out of all this or not.

 

[Ginmary]

I have 2 areas I am going to tackle this weekend. One is next to a large arbovite and one is under a very large beautiful yellow evergreen.

What has worked for me in the past and what I am going to do:

I have a dedicated "Poison Ivy killer" spray bottle. I will spray the ivy leaves close to them using some cardboard behind them to avoid it going on the good plants. I will then wait the days it takes for the ivy plant to turn brown and die. Then I will go in to uproot and pull out as much as I can.

That way it is more likely that the chemical will get down the plant to kill the roots before I pull them out. Hopefully then it won't grow back. Especially if there are any trace of root I miss.

However, the ivy is really under the evergreen and I am afraid that even if I touch the evergreen it may have some poison ivy oil on it. So....I am going to Home Depot and get one of those painters outfits that look like a hazardous material one and then throw it out afterwards.

 

[Cryss]

I'll drink acv. I'm not drinking roundup!