The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Eggcessive]

I am no expert by any means, but all along my front line of my property is a line of Forsythia hedge that in the two years I have owned this house, has swelled to over 6 ft. Of course, in Spring it is a burst of yellow, then moving onto a wonderful green hedge in summer and fall. It loses it's leaves very late, and even though it is only branches in the winter, they're very abundant and also interwoven so thick, I notice the deer can't get through it, and it still provides a very good privacy shield. We've enjoyed it so much, we planted a whole row along our back property where we lost some white pines and needed privacy from our back neighbors. They grow extremely fast. Some people manicure them for a very trimmed appearance, but we let our just go wild, and it's wonderful. They are also quite affordable.


MB

One thing about forsythia--you can get trimmings of it just after it blooms in the spring, then stick 6 inch pieces of it in the ground, and it takes off pretty easily.

 

[Mumsy]

One thing about forsythia--you can get trimmings of it just after it blooms in the spring, then stick 6 inch pieces of it in the ground, and it takes off pretty easily.

Forsythia is pretty. Stunning in a mass planting like in this picture. But. It blooms for two weeks in April. For the next eleven months + two weeks, it's just a boring green hedge. The flowers are sterile. It bears no fruit. I can't really imagine a flock of free ranging chickens running across that lawn with that Forsythia hedge as their sole destination to hang out all day. If you want a chicken friendly hedge, it needs good foraging underneath. Have you ever tried to cultivate under a twenty four year old Forsythia shrub? I have. I cut the things down to the ground every three years. Otherwise they become a knarled, twisted, mess of a shrub. I have three. They are mixed into my shrubbery. I would never dream of planting that many. But that's just me.

 

[jendodd79]

What about some types of lavender? I bought a tiny little 4" pot a year and a half ago and now it's 2 feet tall. It stays green all winter. I wonder if you plant some on one side of the fence and some on the other side of the fence if it would fill in nicely. I guess though that might not be tall enough!

 

[stonykill]

Forsythia is pretty. Stunning in a mass planting like in this picture. But. It blooms for two weeks in April. For the next eleven months + two weeks, it's just a boring green hedge. The flowers are sterile. It bears no fruit. I can't really imagine a flock of free ranging chickens running across that lawn with that Forsythia hedge as their sole destination to hang out all day. If you want a chicken friendly hedge, it needs good foraging underneath. Have you ever tried to cultivate under a twenty four year old Forsythia shrub? I have. I cut the things down to the ground every three years. Otherwise they become a knarled, twisted, mess of a shrub. I have three. They are mixed into my shrubbery. I would never dream of planting that many. But that's just me.

I have 30 of them if I have 1. my chickens hang under mine all the time.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
Yes...for the side that's inside the fence I don't want thorns. But...I also have space on the outside (along the cursed sidewalk that for some reason they decided to put out there when they widened the road... I USED to be in the COUNTRY here

) I'm thinking I might want something thorny over on the outside to help deter 2-legged creatures from trying to reach their hand in to pet various animals...

Indeed!

 

[aoxa]

You guys were busy!

My chickens favoured my honey suckle bush. It was my worst enemy when I needed to get at a chicken for whatever reason, they would hide in it. I could not reach them. Which would be a perfect predator deterrent hiding spot.


Here it is last winter... with a mischievous Harriet hiding from me in it.

 

[Leahs Mom]

And no thorns??

Here it is last winter... with a mischievous Harriet hiding from me in it.

 

[JeffOeuf]

Any other Food Network fans here?

Last night on Chopped they had "Aracuana Eggs" as an ingredient, making it seem like they were something exotic. I laughed.

 

[aoxa]

And no thorns??

It was prickly, but no thorns. They evaded us really well with this bush

 

[aoxa]

Any other Food Network fans here?

Last night on Chopped they had "Aracuana Eggs" as an ingredient, making it seem like they were something exotic. I laughed.

I've seen something like this on the food network.