Safe plants for chickens?

[littlechick1005]

I would like to plant some plants around the chicken pen this coming spring...what can I plant?

 

[MissChris]

Here's a link I saved off last summer that lists flowers/plants that chickens like and that are safe for them (at least according to the author of the article chickens like these!) It also lists some plants at the end of the article that you should avoid giving to your flock. Hope this helps!
http://www.grit.com/fresh-eggs-daily/top-ten-flowers-your-chickens-will-love.aspx

 

[littlechick1005]

Perfect! Thank you. Im curious though, we have some of the poisonous plants around the farm, like ruhbarb and buttercups...do they avoid them?

 

[MissChris]

I'm not sure if they will avoid them, as I don't have a lot of experience in this area myself. I did a little more looking around, and found some more info. Based on several articles I found, it seems that, as long as there are enough safe things for them to eat, they might take a nibble of something that's not good for them, but after a taste they seem to know to leave it alone. It appears that it's important for there to be enough good stuff for them to nibble on, so that they'll be more apt to leave alone the bad stuff, and probably a good idea to have chicken feed available at all times, too.

Here's a link I found to another post on this site with some more info https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...s-that-chickens-who-free-range-should-not-eat

 

[chfite]

I believe that the chickens will not eat the bad plants, if there is enough choice for them otherwise.

Chris