Which plants WON'T a chicken eat???

[JennsPeeps]

I've sectioned off a part of my yard to create a "No Chicken Zone" (NCZ). It keeps chickens out of the house, away from the yard, prevents them from eating my veggie garden, and guarantees that the only chicken on the al fresco table is the one I put there.

For the other half, which *used to* have grass, I'm trying to move plants that are chicken resistant.

Here's what they've left alone so far:
*Hellebore
*Hydrangea
*Flowering Quince
*Day lilies
*Highland cranberry
*Ground geraniums
*Columbine
*Tulips (who would have thunk??)
*Red twig dogwood
*Sedum
*Lavender

Other suggestions?

 

[swedishfish]

whooo, good idea!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Thoughts on these plants if they would work or not... a potato vine, clematis, passion fruit vine, honey suckle, or grape vines?

My plan is to take the list to my local nursery and see what works for our climate. Would love if it was green year round!

I have experience with some of these plants. I'm not sure about the potato vine. I know it's not the same, but my chickens have recently grown to love sweet potato vines. After years of ignoring them they suddenly decided they are tasty. I don't have any personal experience with the honey suckle or clematis. Very early this spring I planted two passion fruit vines in the yard where the chickens free range and they have not touched them at all and they're finally starting to grow like wildfire. Of course, like with the sweet potato vines, they may change their minds at some point in the future. I built my run around three grape vines so that the vines would grow up and out over the top of the wire covered run. The chickens absolutely love eating the grape leaves, but the way the vines grow it's not a problem. The vines grow out of canes that are too tall for the chickens to reach when they emerge in spring. By the time the vines grow over and onto the ground in early summer they grow too fast for the chickens to eat them all. We love the grape vines, they provide lots of shade and lots to eat. It would be nice if the grape vines were green year round, but they go dormant here after the first frost.


Grape vines getting ready to grow over the run in spring:


Early summer:

 

[bobbi-j]

I totally misread the title to this thread. I read, "Which plants WON'T eat a chicken?" I should probably go take a nap now...

 

[hippichick]

Very interested in this. I've been looking for plants to plant around my pond in my chicken yard. So far, they've eaten my Azaleas and my Cannas. They nibbled a little on my Iris. They've left alone my Butterfly Bush, Martin's Tea Trea, and small Crepe Myrtle. I've dug up some Plumbago to plant in there tomorrow, so I'll see how that goes. How about Roses? Are they just going to devour those? If so, I won't bother.

Paula

 

[swedishfish]

I have a similar question. I am building a new coop and run next to my garden, and am planning to fence in my garden to let them roam around in after harvest, and maybe find a way to have a Weed Control Patrol without destroying my veggies. So:
What veggies are bad for chickens?
Which ones will they leave alone?
Which veggies could I plant to let the chickens have?
Does anyone have an idea about how to let the chickens eat the weeds but not my veggies (I was thinking covers kinda like the ones you use to save your plants from frost) or is this impossible?
Thanks!

 

[castlecreekfarm]

Does anyone know of any vines that they won't eat? I would love to plant some on my coop wire for a little shade.

 

[chookchick]

What is interesting about your list is that it is so close to a list of "deer resistant" plants. I know well what deer will not eat, as we have several that think they live here, and have devoured everything remotely edible to them. So I would continue on that vein--here are some more possibilities:
Rhododendrons
Ornamental grasses--carex, miscanthus, etc...
Barberry
Ceanothus--small leaf
Heathers
Nandina
Potentilla
Spirea
Achillea
Euphorbias
Penstemon
This is a short list--many more can be found on internet lists. I would assume they taste bad, and some are actually poisonous, so they taste bad to all animals.

ETA--Jasmine, Wisteria and Solanum are listed as deer-resistant. Solanum is poisonous so you might want to keep an eye on that.

 

[Majestic Lane Poultry]

Daffodils. I am soooo happy to report that they left them alone!

 

[citrusdreams]

They haven't touched my lilac bushes at all