- Mar 27, 2008
- 39
- 0
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Hi,
A first-timer here! I have 3 hens who just started laying their first eggs this week. Yay!
On an unrelated note. My hens are DESTROYING my perennials, especially my rudebeckia and purple coneflower, which have similar thick, slightly hairy leaves. They eat them as much as they can, and I don't know why. They ignore the lettuce I offer them (sliced, washed romaine) as well as baby spinach and even mache lettuce. Also those organic baby green salad mix leaves. I don't know why they turn their beaks up at fresh, quality greens in favour of my plants.
I have a small yard and they get to leave their indoor coop, and sand- covered outdoor run for several hours a day to forage in my small urban yard which is landscaped with pea gravel, lots of perennials and natural pavers. There wasn't any grass, but they could eat our neighbour's tall grass (which comes through the fence), and a few days ago we actually ripped out a small flower bed in a corner of our yard in order to lay a small grassy patch for them under a nicely shaded lilac bush. They are ignoring this grassy patch. It was designed for them to nibble and relax on! But they only want to eat my perennials!
Why?
Any ideas for how to deal with this?
Their diet is chicken scratch and birdseed mix, fresh corn, cheese, sliced greens (which they ignore, as mentioned), green peas, sliced grapes and apples, and a couple times a week they also get live crickets and mealworms from the pet store, as well as whatever bugs they are foraging in our yard.
For the most part they are very happy, friendly birds. But the flower thing is really bugging me! Advice please?
A first-timer here! I have 3 hens who just started laying their first eggs this week. Yay!
On an unrelated note. My hens are DESTROYING my perennials, especially my rudebeckia and purple coneflower, which have similar thick, slightly hairy leaves. They eat them as much as they can, and I don't know why. They ignore the lettuce I offer them (sliced, washed romaine) as well as baby spinach and even mache lettuce. Also those organic baby green salad mix leaves. I don't know why they turn their beaks up at fresh, quality greens in favour of my plants.
I have a small yard and they get to leave their indoor coop, and sand- covered outdoor run for several hours a day to forage in my small urban yard which is landscaped with pea gravel, lots of perennials and natural pavers. There wasn't any grass, but they could eat our neighbour's tall grass (which comes through the fence), and a few days ago we actually ripped out a small flower bed in a corner of our yard in order to lay a small grassy patch for them under a nicely shaded lilac bush. They are ignoring this grassy patch. It was designed for them to nibble and relax on! But they only want to eat my perennials!
Why?
Any ideas for how to deal with this?
Their diet is chicken scratch and birdseed mix, fresh corn, cheese, sliced greens (which they ignore, as mentioned), green peas, sliced grapes and apples, and a couple times a week they also get live crickets and mealworms from the pet store, as well as whatever bugs they are foraging in our yard.
For the most part they are very happy, friendly birds. But the flower thing is really bugging me! Advice please?