Solutions to combat pigeons

[HasSumAmi]

I have an area of garden where I grow nettles and comfrey. (I use them for their health qualities and as a fertiliser).

 

Is it safe for the chickens to be allowed near them? Or shall I block off that area?

 

They have started to be more adventurous with their free ranging and I was worried about the nettles in particular hurting them.

 

Take care all.

[Olly]

I don't think it's a problem - I've got both in my garden. I haven't noticed whether they eat nettles, they certainly don't eat the comfrey, I wish they did because it spreads like mad.

 

They are generally pretty smart at knowing what they can and can't eat!

[Egluntyne]

They don't appear to be on the list of poisonous plants. See**here**

 

My garden is full of nettles and they don't seem to bother with them.

[HasSumAmi]

Thanks.

The list of poisonous plants is a bit daunting: daffodil, ivy, tulips, delphiniums... They are present in an awful lot of gardens I would have thought. Do the chickens know not to eat them or do they have to be dug out?

[chickweed]

Chickens seem to know instinctively what's safe to eat. I have watched mine eat nettles and they have come to no harm.

Must sting a bit though

[Tessa the Duchess]

Not sure about nettles and chickens, but nettles are supposed to be excellent things to put in a compost bin. There was a whole thread a while ago about comfrey and chickens. Comfrey is said to be very good at regulating bad chicken behaviour and also enables them to better convert the nutrients from the pellets or mash so they need to eat less of them, making it cheaper to feed chickens.....so they say....and if you can get them to eat them. I am going to grow comfrey this year and see if it works

 

Tessa

[Egluntyne]

Interesting about the behaviour.....how does that work....and what is the "dosage"?

[Tessa the Duchess]

Interesting about the behaviour.....how does that work....and what is the "dosage"?

 

Have no idea how it works It is supposed to stop pecking and bullying, maybe has some sort of herbal tranx effect? I will have to dig the book out and re-read the chapter. As for dosage, I don't think a chicken can overdose on comfrey, just get them to eat as much as possible. When I grow mine I am going to hang it up in the run

 

Tessa

[Treekeeper]

Comfrey is also known as knitbone if you ever get a bruise or a sprain boil it up and put it on the injured part (after cooling) and it really does take swelling down etc It also gets absorbed into your bloodstream and makes you feel calmer so maybe it does the same to chickens when they eat it

[Luthien]

Comfrey is also known as knitbone if you ever get a bruise or a sprain boil it up and put it on the injured part (after cooling) and it really does take swelling down etc It also gets absorbed into your bloodstream and makes you feel calmer so maybe it does the same to chickens when they eat it

 

Oooo my mum and I could do with that! we stress way to much...I wonder if I can feed her manic poodle a bucket full of it!

[Eyren]

For a moment I thought the title of this thread was a recipe

[AJuff]

Well I thought hens wouldn't eat things that are bad for them but my two new girls have had a peck at the ivy in their pen. I would have a huge job on my hands to remove all the offending ivy!

[Milly]

I read on here a few weeks ago that comfrey was good for hens - and apparently it converts their poo into even better compost. I have noticed that they have razed to the ground my clump of comfrey, before it has had much chance to grow this year!

 

Milly

[Olly]

I think there are different sorts of comfrey. The sort I've got has quite prickly leaves, and the chooks don't seem to fancy it.