poultry advice needed!

[Shabba]

My partner and I are hoping to soon become first time chicken owners and I have conflicting information on where is best to situate their run. Unfortunately the garden they will be in is not secure enough for them to have the free run of it entirely, but the ideal spot for the potential run is currently home to several fruit bushes (raspberries, tayberries and blackberries) which out of pure laziness I would love to avoid having to move! I have always previously been told that if you let chickens anywhere near plants you want to keep they will decimate them pretty soon. But another friend who has chickens has said that if the plants are well established the chickens won't do them any harm. The fruit bushes have been in this spot for years so I think its fair to say they fit into the well established category. So basically my question is does anyone have an opinion on whether it would be safe to build the run around the fruit bushes? I realise the chickens will undoubtedly get at some of the crop on the lower parts of the bushes but hopefully we'll still get some fruit for ourselves (or is that naively optimistic?!). Advice would be much appreciated.

[farmerdrea]

When chooks are penned, they will shred just about every living thing, simply out of boredom. They also love the new spring growth on most plants, even if they become unplatable as they mature.

Even if they don't eat/damage the plants, they will most certainly eat ALL the berries, even before they are ripe. I would not risk the plants - they take so long to really get established.


Andrea
NZ

[Millymollymandy]

Really it depends how big your run is. There are some wild raspberries in my chicken run and the birds don't touch the leaves and what little fruit there is is mostly too high up for them to reach, although it is quite funny watching them jump up and try. Because I don't need this fruit I just hold the stems down for the girls to peck when I see some fruit ripe. However I'm not so sure I'd want my proper raspberries in the run with them.

You could try putting chicken wire around the area where the fruit canes are, within the run, though it might be rather a palaver when it comes to picking the fruit!

Don't forget you can easily strike cuttings from the fruit canes to start afresh somewhere else 'just in case'.

[Thomzo]

I think it also depends on the breed. Some can fly or jump pretty well and will think nothing of getting to the higher fruit. Some are less able and you may be safer. Personally, I'd put a cage or some protection around the bushes if you don't want to move them.

Zoe

[Shabba]

Firstly, sorry for putting this question in the wrong section! Still don't know my way round very well

Thanks for the comments. I think, based on what you've all said it would probably be safest to move the bushes. I'll just have to resign myself to a bit of hard labour! Not being quite so bone idle is one of my new years resolutions anyway so this will be a good start for me!

[Millymollymandy]

This is the right section Shabba - chooks come under livestock and your question was more about poultry than fruit bushes!