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Hens & Rhubarb
Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 11:49 am
by Arnie
Hi All
Can someone tell me if it safe to let my Hens roam through my Rhubarb patch
Kind Regards
Kevin
Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 12:00 pm
by alan refail
Kevin
Rhubarb is probably not good for hens. However they will not eat it, or anything else that is bad for them - pity humans aren't as bright. I speak from experience, my hens getting access to rhubarb and anywhere/anything else they fancy.
Alan
Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 5:12 pm
by Myrkk
Hens are better than us at knowing what's good for them...... my husband knows this from experience after digging up my rhubard earlier this year
Our hens don't bother the rhubard at all, it's only the leaves that are toxic.
My baby beetroot is another matter
Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 9:27 am
by Chantal
Rocky had a free run on my allotment all of last summer and did very little damage. He was quite small then, but he was more interested in scratching around in the earth and eating grass tha In anything else. He was guilty of eating the first bean flowers but didn't touch the beetroot, rhubarb or even the lettuce, which surprised me
Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 12:00 pm
by John
I have seen my hens peck at fresh rhubarb leaves that I've left on the path to dry out before adding to the compost heap. It's obviously not their favourite greens but they did eat some. As others have said chickens seem to know exactly what they they can and can't eat so don't worry about it.
John
Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 8:48 am
by vivie veg
I had the same problem as John, but in this case it was one year old plants that I was about to plant out. The chickens stripped the leaves off, so I had to put the pots out of harms way until I could move the chickens off that plot.
The chickens came to no harm, but the plants looked very sorry for a month or so until new leaves grew.
Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 1:40 pm
by alan refail
Further to my previous post about the good sense of hens in what they will and won't eat. Several times over the past few weeks I have thrown both slugs and snails out of my polytunnel to the hens. If I threw out a slug they would look at it with disgust and run away. If I threw out a snail they would almost kill each other to get a bite of it. Can't say I blame them. The ducks, on the other hand, will eat both.
As for the rhubarb, both hens and ducks now reckon it's as good a place as any to crawl under and lay eggs I can't find
Alan