Chicken friendly plants.

[Mkh40]

I was hoping someone would have a suggestion for plants my chickens won’t be interested in destroying or eating and that are not toxic to them.

 

[nuthatched]

They'll destroy anything, toxic or not.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

They'll destroy anything, toxic or not.

Truth! If it's edible they will eat it to death. If it's not edible they will scratch and waller and dust bathe in and around it until the plant surrenders in despair.

Oh wait. There's an exception. Several years ago we planted dozens of lilies given to us in tight rows and when they came up the chickens went, Oh cool! A shady jungle! (Lilies are toxic to chickens.) So they lay under the lilies, ate the bugs under them, scratched a little under and around them and of course pooped there as well. And the lilies went, Oh cool! Thanks for the fertilizer and cultivation and keeping us free of nasty grubs and bugs! And both birds and flowers flourished, to the point that we had to transplant all the lilies last fall. So the whole process will start all over. These are fancy cultivated lilies, not just the common orange ditch lilies, though we do have a ... um ... truckload of those as well.

 

[nuthatched]

Truth! If it's edible they will eat it to death. If it's not edible they will scratch and waller and dust bathe in and around it until the plant surrenders in despair.

Oh wait. There's an exception. Several years ago we planted dozens of lilies given to us in tight rows and when they came up the chickens went, Oh cool! A shady jungle! (Lilies are toxic to chickens.) So they lay under the lilies, ate the bugs under them, scratched a little under and around them and of course pooped there as well. And the lilies went, Oh cool! Thanks for the fertilizer and cultivation and keeping us free of nasty grubs and bugs! And both birds and flowers flourished, to the point that we had to transplant all the lilies last fall. So the whole process will start all over. These are fancy cultivated lilies, not just the common orange ditch lilies, though we do have a ... um ... truckload of those as well.

What are ditch lillies?

 

[StinkyAcres]

What are ditch lillies?

They are orange lilies that tend to grow on the sides of roads in the drainage ditches. They aren't native, but they grow very well here.

 

[Mkh40]

They'll destroy anything, toxic or not.

Thanks! I am discovering this.

 

[Mkh40]

Truth! If it's edible they will eat it to death. If it's not edible they will scratch and waller and dust bathe in and around it until the plant surrenders in despair.

Oh wait. There's an exception. Several years ago we planted dozens of lilies given to us in tight rows and when they came up the chickens went, Oh cool! A shady jungle! (Lilies are toxic to chickens.) So they lay under the lilies, ate the bugs under them, scratched a little under and around them and of course pooped there as well. And the lilies went, Oh cool! Thanks for the fertilizer and cultivation and keeping us free of nasty grubs and bugs! And both birds and flowers flourished, to the point that we had to transplant all the lilies last fall. So the whole process will start all over. These are fancy cultivated lilies, not just the common orange ditch lilies, though we do have a ... um ... truckload of those as well.

Thank you so much. Lillies it is!!

 

[StinkyAcres]

Certain lilies are toxic to animals. I think daylilies are okay. I'm having a hard time finding information on this, though. I know my goats ate daylilies with no problems.

 

[rural mouse]

Certain lilies are toxic to animals. I think daylilies are okay. I'm having a hard time finding information on this, though. I know my goats ate daylilies with no problems.

Daylilies are loved by deer (leaves and flowers alike) and the flowers are human edible too.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

If you're zone 8+ I would recommend growing prickly pears, specifically opuntia stricta. Delicious fruit and extremely tough plant