Chicken-Friendly Backyard Landscaping
Lots of you raise backyard chickens that are allowed to roam your backyard, either supervised or unsupervised, and might wonder if your existing landscaping is okay if your chickens happen to nibble on it (which they are prone to do!).
I'm frequently asked what kinds of plants, bushes and trees are safe to plant around chickens.
In addition, I'm often asked for a list of vegetables and herbs that can be planted in the garden that are safe for chickens to eat and a list of things that aren't safe.
Chicken-Friendly Backyard Landscaping
For the most part, anything you plant for your family will generally be safe for your chickens, with a few notable exceptions being anything in the nightshade family - ie, tomatoes, eggplant or white potatoes - or things in the onion family.
As far as herbs go, the culinary herbs are generally safe for your chickens, although there are other herbs that can be harmful.
But I haven't seen too many lists of other types of plants that you might either already have in your backyard, or be thinking about planting in your backyard, so I've done some research and come up with some "safe" lists and then some plants that might pose a problem for your chickens.
In addition to berry bushes, there are lots of other types of bushes that your chickens can enjoy without worry. Our ducks especially like to nap under the various bushes in our yard.
If you are considering adding a few trees for shade in your yard or around your chicken run, these are good choices.
Vines trailing up the side of a chicken run provide wonderful shade from the sun as well as a bit of a wind block. There are some of my top choices.
So What's Not Safe for Chickens?
Many of the "toxic" plants in my list appear on lists of plants that are toxic to livestock in general, not specifically chickens, but as always I would rather err on the side of caution.
Usually chickens (and other animals) know enough to stay away from anything that could be toxic, so while I wouldn't go ripping out your entire oleander hedge for example, I wouldn't go out of my way to plant anything near your coop or where your chickens wander that could be dangerous if they were to eat it.
Typically, animals provided adequate nutrition in their daily diet won't eat foliage, leaves or seeds of potentially harmful plants, but sometimes out of curiosity or boredom, they may just decide to nibble on something they shouldn't.
The list of toxic plants is extensive and should by no means be considered to be listed in its entirety here.
I have merely tried to list some of the more common things that you might consider planting in your yard and caution you that they could have harmful effects on your chickens.
Not all shrubs are safe for your chickens. While I wouldn't necessarily pull them all out of my yard, I wouldn't deliberately plant any of these around my chickens.
Many bulbs are toxic to animals and appear on this list of flowers to avoid.
Narcissis
Many trees can pose a problem as far as the dropped fruit/leaves/seeds are concerned. Here are some examples of trees to think twice about before planting them around your chickens.
Not all vines are safe. Here are some to avoid around your chickens.
Many of the toxic plants listed above are also toxic for humans, cats and dogs as well, so sticking with some safer options is generally better all around.
Here's a really good, comprehensive list of plants and their toxicity.
At the very least, it's a good idea to be able to identify toxic plants, so if you suspect poisoning, you might be able to narrow down the possible culprit to notify your vet.
If you do suspect any type of poisoning, administering some blackstrap molasses or activated charcoal can work as a natural detoxifier and help flush out any toxins before you can get to a vet.
Note: Remember that while chickens do a pretty good job at deciding what's okay to eat, letting them free range poses risks that they will ingest something that's not good for them, including any lawn or plant treatments you might use including fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides.
I personally recommend refraining from using any chemicals on your property if you raise chickens. That includes all herbicides (like RoundUp) and pesticides, as well as chemical fertilizers. It's healthier and safer for your family and other pets too.
Chickens are good at keeping weeds under control, but if you absolutely must use something, consider these safer alternatives to RoundUp.
Some of the information in this article was excerpted from
Disclaimer: There are many, many other plants that can pose a threat to your chickens. Also, some of the plants on the safe list could be harmful if ingested in large amounts, or if they are contaminated by mold, fungus, pesticides, herbicides or other chemicals. Different animals react differently to various plants, depending on their age and overall health.
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