Will my chickens eat my mushrooms?

[mimsky]

I am about to set up two mushroom gardens (white caps and shitake) and don't know if my free-range girls are going to eat all my effort. I've only had them about five months and let them roam from noon until nightfall each day. I fenced off my vegetable garden with temporary fencing, to keep them out until it is well established. (At which point I hope I'm safe taking down the fencing.) Do I need to do the same with my new mushroom beds?

 

[KayTee]

I don't know if they would eat your mushrooms - mine have never shown any interest in any fungi that they come across in the garden, and don't even like cooked mushrooms in the leftovers they get. However, I don't know how you will be trying to grow your mushrooms (in logs or in compost) but as you may well have noticed, chickens will scratch around everywhere in order to search for food. Therefore even if they aren't interested in the mushrooms themselves, they may well inadvertently destroy them in their search for something more interesting.

If in doubt, keep the girls out!

 

[mimsky]

Thanks, Kay Tee. I'm doing some composters and some in plugs in old logs. You're totally right. They are going to scratch through my compost. Ugh. Guess, I'm erecting some more fencing.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

Chickens will eat, scratch up, flog and poop on everything in your yard.

 

[donrae]

I'd plan on making that fencing permanent, around your mushrooms and your garden. Chickens will decimate a vegetable garden in no time flat.