Will chickens eat roses?

[FyshWyfe]

I have two flower beds in the backyard where the girls free range. I'm wondering what I can plant there that they won't find appetizing. We're in far SE Texas, so I've been considering drought-tolerant ornamentals like red yucca, some types of cactus, and the like, but DH works at a garden center and they're clearing out roses. Will the girls tear them up?
Also, while on the topic, is there anything I shouldn't plant? I know lantana is poisonous to almost all animals. Anything else?

 

[RThomas]

I haven't had any issues with mine eating roses. They seem to eat most other flowering plants, though. I have found that they won't eat marigolds. So, I plant mostly marigolds in my beds and outside pots. The ones they do eat I usually put in hanging baskets.

 

[True Grit]

I threw my girls some red rose petals the other day from my Valentines bouquet (which in retrospect was stupid as they could have been treated, being from a florist) and they ate them up. As for growing roses, I don't know.

 

[PetRock]

Our rose bushes produce flowers most of the year and my 9 yr old daughter feeds our chickens rose petals all the time. They gobble them up and DD insists that rose petals are their favorite food. I have seen them nibble on the lower leaves but have never seen them jump up and grab any of the flowers. Maybe they don't need to exert the effort since they have a slave who picks the petals for them!

 

[cluckin_crazy]

3 out of my 8 eat roses.

 

[GarlicEater]

Rose petals *are* a food in some parts of the world. That's a good idea, rose petals as a treat. No shortage of roses around here in season.

 

[galanie]

Mine eat everything in reach but don't really care for roses, especially the leaves.