What plants do chickens like?

[RazorDuck]

I'm looking for something to plant in my chicken run (e.g. corn, milo, etc.). It will be inside the run for them to eat when they please. What other plants could work in this situation?

 

[azygous]

Chickens like green plants. That is to say, they like anything growing in their range. The problem is their over eager, busy scratching feet. Any plant with a shallow, lateral root system is toast, and soon you will have a landscape rivaling Mars or the moon.

The secret is to select perennial cover crops that have deep root systems. These are typically "bunching" plants rather than "ground cover" plants. But it does require a period of unmolested existence to get them established so they won't be vulnerable to those industrious feet.

Last winter, I planted some cover crops, including native bunch grasses, on a bare area where I removed three dead pines. I mulched it with straw, and then installed a temporary plastic deer fence around it to keep the chickens off of it, and yes, the deer, too, until it was in full growth and glory. It only took about six months, and I was able to remove the plastic fencing.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

Boadleaf Plantain. Comfrey. Dandelion

 

[SueT]

I get a bunch of tall weeds to grow in my run most years. There has to be enough square footage and enough rain, or the chickens will scratch up everything, including grass. There have been a couple years when it was completely bare.
Some of these weeds plant themselves, some I dig up from the garden and transplant.
I've seen pigweed, lambsquarter, milo from the scratch feed, cherry tomato plants (planted by the chickens themselves, various grasses, etc.

 

[chickenlittle21]

My chickens love corn and herbs but if you plant it in my chickens run they will eat it before it can grow

 

[Chullicken]

More so kind of what they don't like, the little rototilling monsters shred most of the things we love and enjoy like flower and veggie ~gardens.
~Oregano
~Basil
~Lawn Grass
~Most Herbs
~Wild Cucumbers
~Oats-When Sprouting
~Choke Cherry Bushes
~Most kinds of Wheat Grass when sprouting

Kind of have to experiment, they'll peck at most things and eat just about anything. Each flock seems to be different much like families, they're taste in edibles will vary.

 

[IamRainey]

Mine eat anything I give them which is to say any old weed I've pulled out of the garden. They love nasturtiums. I have it vining all over outside their coop and run. Sometimes I just pull out a tangle of 8' or 9' feet and throw it in.

The prob with trying to grow stuff inside the run is how rough they are and how constantly they scratch at roots. That's one of the reasons I don't let them free range in my small backyard. So I just do their foraging for them when I'm weeding and then rip open a bag of Trader Joe's shredded cabbage for them when I don't have a lot of weeds or kitchen and garden scraps and peelings.

 

[thewatsonfarm]

My girls have a long enclosure with planters that I intended to fill with plants for them to eat. But they don't just eat -- they destroy. I was replacing plants more frequently than I'd like. I started making chicken wire cylinders that I plant down about 6-8" in the soil, surrounding the plants above & below soil level. This protects the root ball and gives the core of the plant some protection from my vicious raptors, but still lets them snack on the plants.

They have especially enjoyed jasmine & grapevines. Now I've planted a camelia, gardenias and other bushes to give them more cover, which they seem to like (they do not seem to like to eat plants with stiffer, waxy leaves, like camellias). I also have a lavender that they don't eat, but enjoy sitting on. It's weird. They've crushed it down so the top of the bush is flat and grows sideways and they sit on top of what has become a sort of nest-looking spot.

I've decided it's more efficient for me to grow their greens in my garden, and cut some for them each morning. So I cut a variety of cabbage, kale, broccoli leaves... all kinds of greens. I put them in the planters to try to mimic nature, so they still think they're foraging. Plus, what they don't eat is naturally composted back into the soil in the planters.