[Pullet]

Hi,

Just planning the garden to accommodate new hen house (first timer & can't wait to get them!) and need a shrub that is fairly quick growing to shield the back of the hen house from the road and the attentions of some locals (we're between two pubs!).

I don't want to plant anything that will be harmful to the chooks or make the eggs taste funny if they eat it. Suggestions please.

Thanks.

[jack russell]

thats easy      hops

[Lost in France]

[Lost in France]

I had the same problem in the aviary..something hardy that the peacocks wouldn't mess with! I put in a little conifer...they've left that alone, a couple of eleagnus (they use it round car parks and it's tough and grows fast, plus it has tiny white flowers you can hardly see but they smell gorgeous....) but they ate the eleagnus bare! The most sucessful has been Photinia Red Robin, it looks lovely, grows fast and the birds don't touch it...well apart from the odd disaster when they land on a soft branch!! Why not try a few shrubs that you can get cheap from the supermarket, then if they aren't a sucess, nothing much lost! Hawthorn, blackthorn, beech and other native hedge plants would be good but depends if you want year round cover as they're deciduous although the beech will hold the dead leaves so still provide cover throughout winter. What about a few rosa rugosa in between? As most people with free-ranging birds will tell you, they're unlikely to eat anything poisonous if there's plenty of good stuff around!

Happy planting!

Judi