About Chickens in the Garden
There are a number of reasons to allow the chickens to forage in the garden. It keeps them happy certainly, but chickens also control insects, keep down weeds, and improve the soil with their pecking and manure; and eating a variety of food makes for better tasting eggs. The downside to free range chickens is that they tend to get into areas you may not want them. This might mean that they eat something that is toxic to them. So a better idea is to have a chicken coop filled with safe plants.
Good Plants for Chicken Coops
Herbs are excellent plant selections for around or inside a chicken enclosure. And you can grab a handful on the way back to the house with your eggs. Other chicken friendly plants are vegetables or grains like alfalfa, alliums, amaranth, asparagus, buckwheat, blueberries, clover, currants, lentils, legumes, mulberries, peas, plantain, raspberries, rhubarb, and squash. Chickens also like sunflowers and most fruiting trees.
Plants That are Toxic to Chickens
While pretty, keep your chickens away from daffodils, daphne, foxglove, honeysuckle, hydrangea, rhododendron and tulips. Also, any members of the Nightshade family, such as tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant, are toxic to chickens.
