millymeerkat Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Hi All, Following daily visits by a rather bold Mr Fox, my husband has made my girls a lovely big, safe run and I am just at the point of putting the finishing touches to it - flower pots, ladders, logs and rocks - lots of fun things to climb on and destroy! I want to put some plants in the run and thought about some herbs like lavender and rosemary as I already have plants of both elsewhere in the garden, but having seen some beautiful pink, white and lilac heather plants I wonder if these would be okay inside their run? Will my girls try and eat the heather plants and will they be harmful to them if they do??? They destroyed my vegetable garden last year, but have never touched some of the other plants - do you think they know what's yummy and what's harmful?!?! Obviously, I am not expecting them to leave the plants alone, they are chickens after all, but just wanted to add something that not only gave them a bit of interest & bug hunting fun, but something that looks nice too. Any comments on heather or suggestions for safe & pretty plants welcome! Thank you! Milly x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 I have various heathers in pots around the garden. The girls very occasionally will peck one or two now and again - but they dont seem to devour it...just the odd peck. No harm to my chooks at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 I have a jungle type garden with lots of ferns, bamboos, cordalines and spikey things (all evergreen) the cordaline type plants look fab around the run. Mine dont peck the ferns either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millymeerkat Posted March 13, 2008 Author Share Posted March 13, 2008 Thanks for that Chelsea. I used to love it when they were mooching about the garden, but this this darn fox has been so persistant and sneaky that it made sense to make a run for them. It's 14ft x 10ft so a reasonable size, but want to make it as interesting as the rest of the garden, so the girls don't feel like the're missing out!!! I like the idea of ferns as they seem like a good hiding place and can imagine them dust bathing under them!!! Thanks for your ideas. Milly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Hi Milly It might be worth putting a 'cage' around the bottom of any plants as that will stop them digging them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millymeerkat Posted March 13, 2008 Author Share Posted March 13, 2008 Hi Christian, Will it hurt their feet if they try and scratch it up but get their tiny toes caught on/in the cage? I was planning on putting things in large ceramic pots that hopefully they won't be able to knock them over! Although I'm sure they'll still have a good go at climbing inside! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 You could try those green wire hanging baskets and plant through them? If you are planting in pots that will do the trick too. I had a small apple tree in my chicken area but they dug up the roots! I suppose it was really dry and they liked to dust bathe there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyren Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 I put plastic bird netting down in our "rockery" (a former raised pond), held down with stones and galvanised steel pegs. They still scratch around in there, but it prevents them from digging down to the plants' roots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...