Need advice for the best vines and plants for in a chicken run!

[Zenmonkey]

Yes, many different varieties of bamboo. I find it quite beautiful actually but some (not all) varieties spread like wildfire.
Kudzu is from Japan originally, I’d imagine it would be invasive in most of the US.

Joking aside, I looked into growing kudzu a decade or two ago. At the time a guy in Texas had one growing in a pot on his patio. Pretty standard leafy vine fair. It seemed unlikely to survive if he planted it out.

There was a field in Connecticut that had been left as kudzu for something like a century and it was still alive, though it had slowly shrunk to one tiny corner.

My understanding is that south east USA has the right combination of sun, warmth, and humidity for it to run rampant. And unlike its home country not much eats it.

It was planted as a forage crop, supposedly more protein rich hay than alfalfa. However it suffered from the same brittle issues in baling as alfalfa, but with a significantly decreased palatability amongst cattle and horses.

There was a lot of reflex panic that it was invasive everywhere. And a number of states outlawed it. But it's really only a concern in a couple states.

 

[ChaosMom]

... If the winters were just a little warmer, I think it would go wild…

I think it would be wise for all of us to realize that all our winters are probably going to get warmer, and to start looking at plants that currently do well a bit south of where we live (north for those in the southern hemisphere).

 

[ChaosMom]

Joking aside, I looked into growing kudzu a decade or two ago. At the time a guy in Texas had one growing in a pot on his patio. Pretty standard leafy vine fair. It seemed unlikely to survive if he planted it out.

There was a field in Connecticut that had been left as kudzu for something like a century and it was still alive, though it had slowly shrunk to one tiny corner.

My understanding is that south east USA has the right combination of sun, warmth, and humidity for it to run rampant. And unlike its home country not much eats it.

It was planted as a forage crop, supposedly more protein rich hay than alfalfa. However it suffered from the same brittle issues in baling as alfalfa, but with a significantly decreased palatability amongst cattle and horses.

There was a lot of reflex panic that it was invasive everywhere. And a number of states outlawed it. But it's really only a concern in a couple states.

Well, more than “a couple”, couple being defined as two.

When it’s bad, it’s REALLY bad.

There are shrubs and trees somewhere under all this:

 

[tlcmurphy]

Well, more than “a couple”, couple being defined as two.

When it’s bad, it’s REALLY bad.

There are shrubs and trees somewhere under all this:
View attachment 4104090

This

 

[Zenmonkey]

There are shrubs and trees somewhere under all this:
View attachment 4104090

Not any more there isn't!

 

[BoundlessLove]

@tlcmurphy
Spot on about kudzu in Georgia.
There is a Kudzu festival every year in Dalton, Georgia. I have family just north of Dalton. You would not believe the crowd. Live music, arts and crafts…
Vendors sell anything Kudzu.
Kudzu jelly, Fried kudzu, kudzu salad, etc.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Also there's different bamboos. Perhaps the local nurseries are protecting me from myself by only selling me varieties that don't winter without some protection.

There used to be hundreds of thousands of acres of native bamboo in America before Europeans killed 99.9% of it

If you did plant Asian bamboo it would only ever be filling an ecological niche that's been empty for a couple hundred years now. It's not like bamboo threatens established forests either, it needs light like any plant. People notice bamboo because it takes over empty lots, grass monocultures, and other unnatural environments

I don't know what hardiness zone you're in but there are a few cold hardy species of bamboo that might be able to survive there. Phyllostachys nuda, bissetii, and aureosulcata are the three toughest I'm aware of

 

[bwasb]

Grapes aren’t toxic to chickens, or else @fuzzi would have no chickens. Where did you read this? I’m not being accusatory; it’s just that there is a LOT of BS online regarding chickens.

I wouldn’t try to plant shrubs inside the run, but if you’re determined to, then yes, welded wire or HWC would help.

They are however VERY toxic to dogs. A single grape can kill a dog or cause kidney failure which is very expensive to treat. If you have dogs, DO NOT plant grape vines.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

They are however VERY toxic to dogs. A single grape can kill a dog or cause kidney failure which is very expensive to treat. If you have dogs, DO NOT plant grape vines.

I have a ton of wild grapes all over my land but my dog (that has full access to them) has never eaten a single grape. She may eat grape leaves on the rare occasion her stomach is upset, but never grapes themselves

 

[ChickenShepherd_6116]

I saw this video:

and I thought that was a cool idea. I have the oats (I use them to make chicken feed) so I thought I might give this a try. How long would it take the chickens to devour all that oat grass? I'm guessing not long. Would it be a good idea to make a mesh cover to put over the grass so that they can't get to the roots and dig it up but they can still eat it? They have access to regular yard grass in their run (maybe 1/3 of it) and they haven't totally ripped that out, but they do scratch and peck at it, causing some damage. I'm thinking about blocking that section off for a few weeks to let it recover a bit, but I still want them to have access to some greens; would oat grass be a substitute?

Any tips are appreciated!

EDIT: I decided to do it! Instead of doing only oat seeds, I just sprinkled my chicken feed in it, which has a lot of seeds in it, including: Whole Oats, Black Oil Sunflower Seeds, Flax Seeds, Split Peas (will these grow?), and Sesame Seeds. Here are some pictures of right after I put new dirt in the ground, and then seeded and watered it (hopefully it works!). There are some bits of grass in it from my gardens dirt that I put in there, but I'm not too worried about it.

I will update with more pictures in a couple weeks showing the final result!