What are the best plants to put in a run I have a 16x8 foot run,and 6 feet tall mostly shady. I want it to look nice and maybe the hens would like to dust bath under them. I wanted to know what your favorite plants in your run? Pics would be great! Maybe some bushes would be good? Thanks Happy-Hens
Seriously, consider something artificial. They are going to kill anything living really fast, either directly by eating it, or indirectly by burning the roots with the droppings. In a MUCH larger run you might get something to live. If you still want to try something live, tell us where you live so we know what climate/zone. Its hard to suggest something without knowing that -- if I suggest something native to a cold norther climate such as Blue Arctic Willow and you live in Phoenix, that would not be too helpful.
I agree not to put any plants in the run. Mine have actually dug down into the dirt to make holes to dust bathe in and they're doing this between my tree roots. Anything smaller would die for sure. I do have daylilies in front of their run - they eat the strappy leaves that poke through the wire tho. I also have iris and dianthus outside the run. They haven't reached those yet to eat them. Maybe next year when they're bigger. There is another BYC member that planted bamboo in their run. The hens didn't destroy it, but you have to control it if it's a running variety - otherwise it'll be worse than kudzu!
I'm hoping to do a couple of small salad bars in ours. Using 2 or 3' sections of landscape timbers and hardware cloth on top to keep them from killing it. Then they can peck through as it grows. Right now though, we just put them in the run and it's full of weeds and grass.
