Chickens and Apples

[Brack]

So today we bought 3 chickens, and we'd managed to get a green frog medium co-op and a 10' square wire run second hand.
They seem to be doing alright, my question related to the location in the garden. The best/'right' place to put the run in the garden has put it over an apple tree I planted back in February (which isn't much more than a 18" stick at the moment). I quite like the idea of the tree in the corner of the run giving them some shade, and them fertilising the tree a bit too. But if I have to move it it'd be easier to do so now when it's barely grown some roots and only has half a dozen leaves.
My big question is: will they destroy it/should I move it?
The hens in question are all hybrids, an amber, a speckledy and a blue haze. In their first half a day they've eaten a bit of grass, scratched in the mud a touch and have ignored the tree. They don't seem too destructive yet (I put a lettuce plant that'd gone too dry and was on the way out, they gave it a cursory peck then wandered off).
Any advice/opinions gratefully received.

[veggiechicken]

How high is the run - and how tall will the tree grow?
Personally, I'd move the tree outside the run, while its a stick, and plant it alongside for shade.

[SarrissUK]

Chickens will pull at anything, even if they have no intention of eating it. They're playful and inquisitive. Give the tree a chance to grow to provide shade in the future, but not in amongst the chickens

[Nicos]

I have an elderflower tree in my run but it's well away from the fence. My gals like to roost in it when it's very hot or raining. Yours could eventually be a small flutter away from being an escape route when it gets bigger.
I too would move it.

[Jimny14]

I don't keep chickens nd have no experience in this area but just thinking, would rabbit spiral or a larger tree collar be enough to stop the chickens investigating the trunk? If so it would save moving the tree and would possibly end with the chickens having a lovely tree within their run as some enrichment.

[MyWifesBrassicas]

The chicken wire/rabbit spiral sounds a good idea.
I had a very young apple tree in the middle of my first run (no longer have the run, apple tree doing very well) and nettles grew round it, the chickens wouldn't go near it. The nettles protected the tree and didn't reduce its growing vigor even though they shared the same space.
Just an interesting observation i noted and maybe there's other "off putting" plants that keep them away

[Brack]

Just as an update, yesterday I moved the tree. Thanks for views/advice all.

[Nicos]

You enjoying your chooks?...better than TV any day
Sometimes in the summer, we pull up a couple of patio chairs, crack open a bottle of something and just sits and watches 'em .Highly entertaining!

[Brack]

The kids love them, and they're quite sweet - they seem to sit inside the coop half the time but as soon as you go into the garden they come out to see what you're up to. Very good natured too, in spite of being chased and picked up by an 18 month old and 6 year old most days, they've never so much as pecked anyone.
I need to sort out some sort of treadle feeder and nipple water thing so we could potentially go away for a few days - the coop came with a door opener which wasn't working (and wasn't mentioned by the seller - bonus) but I've cleaned it out, replaced the string and got it going so they get themselves up/put themselves to bed, but every night I put their feeder in the greenhouse to discourage any rodent attentions.
We've buried a load of roof tiles along the perimeter of the run to dissuade foxes, but in spite of backing on to woodland our local predators are quite disappointing - the kids found a fresh grey squirrel by the road last week, brought it home in a shoe box to bury it, but we were busy, so a freshly dead squirrel in an unsealed cardboard box sat in the garden for 4 days without being touched.
Perhaps our local huntsmen are exceedingly effective?