White dogwood (cornus alba)

[Walkbarefoot]

I have a patch of these bushes in my yard and I would like to put my temporary fencing around them to give the girls shade and more protection from hawks... But I do not know if they are safe for the girls to be in. One or 2 sites say no, the rest yes... so confused.

 

[DiYMama540]

Not sure about the toxicity for birds...sorry! It's been my experience though that plants that aren't good for the birds, they tend to leave alone. They may taste test them from time to time, but mine haven't chowed down on anything enough to make them sick. They're pretty good at being able to distinguish edibles for themselves. I understand this is different from bird to bird though, so hopefully someone will come along with a more definitive answer.

 

[Walkbarefoot]

Thank you so much for your response!

 

[cavemanrich]

I agree with @DiYMama540
I have my chickens free-range in my backyard/garden area. There are some toxic plants to chickens there. Tomato plants, Deadly nightshade growing in fence line from adjacent property, Poke weed, Holly, and other weeds I'm not sure of. My chickens just don't snack on any of these. They graze in the lawn, as well as other plants that are OK for them. If chickens have a choice of greens, they pick those that are not toxic for them.
I have read many posts of chickens getting sick or worse from eating wrong plants. In MOST of these cases (that I read/responded), it was a plant that was growing into run area thru the fence/netting, and run was barren/void of other greens. Common logic says,,,,,,, if that is the only green item available,,,, chickens will snack on it.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[HopeSprings]

Dogwood fruits are eaten by wild birds, so I would think that they wouldn't hurt your chickens.