Chooks and Plants

[sarflo]

Hi, I know that chickens devour most plants on sight which is why our veg garden has moved to the front of the house, I have noticed that they have left the bay tree alone and wonder if there are any other plants/flowers/shrubs that they will not go for. I'm not a big flower gardener but it would be nice to have a little colour in the back garden this year!!

[Birdie Wife]

Hi sarflo, mine leave my irises, ornamental quince, heather, holly and broom alone. I think anything with spiky or waxy leaves would be fine. They love the lupins heads once they've set seed!! I think there's a thread on another forum about this, I see if I can find it and PM you back.

[Jardiniere]

BUT they dig up around everything with those enormous great big dinosaur claws that they all have .....mine will not be allowed anywhere near anything i am trying to grow once spring starts....................

[MaureenHall]

I've got an Olive tree, 2 crab apple trees, honeysuckles and a huge pampas growing in the chooks bit of the garden that so far have survived - as well as the laurel hedge. I did have daffodils, iris, various shrubs that I can't remember the names of, but no more!! In my garden it's either chickens or plants, not both and the chickens are going nowhere

[sarflo]

Maybe I'll stick up a few hanging baskets-it'll be fun watching them trying to get up there

[Jardiniere]

They will! Mine fly....one can get over a 7ft fence.

[MaureenHall]

They will! Mine fly....one can get over a 7ft fence.

Think she needs a ball and chain if she can fly that high

[Hashette]

They will! Mine fly....one can get over a 7ft fence.

Really?

*wibble*

There's a slope up to the fence at the end of our garden and only a couple of feet between the top of it and the top of the fence, with a field beyond. My lot haven't tried to get over it yet, but we've already had a Houdini episode involving squeezing through the hedge into next door.

So far the nearest I've seen them get to flying is to flap down 3 ft or so from the pop hole with all the ease and grace of a brick, but from the sound of it I'd better have a re-think about the fence. Or start digging out several feet of frozen earth.......