A run full of chooks turns to bare dirt faster than most new keepers expect, and the plants that go in to fix it are often gone within the week. The idea that matters most is this: a hen will scratch, peck and dust bathe wherever she is allowed to, so the plants that last around a run are the ones she cannot reach, cannot uproot or does not want to eat. Choose on those three tests and the run stays green, the birds get shade and forage, and nothing within reach can poison them.
This guide gathers what the RSPCA Australia Knowledgebase, Poultry Hub Australia, the Victorian and New South Wales poisons information services, the Queensland Government and the MSD Veterinary Manual publish on shade, foraging, toxic plants and feed. It summarises their advice rather than replacing it, the sources are linked at the end, and a sick bird needs a poultry or avian vet rather than a web page.
Quick facts
| First rule | Plant established stock only, cage the root zone with wire, and put anything precious outside the fence so the foliage hangs in |
|---|---|
| Heat | Layers do best between 20 and 24 degrees Celsius (Poultry Hub). Shade the north and west sides of the run with trees, shrubs or shade cloth |
| Forage | Hang whole greens at head height, throw in lucerne hay, and keep grass short so it cannot block the crop |
| Never within reach | Oleander, foxglove, brugmansia and datura, castor oil plant, lantana, azalea, yew, brunfelsia, bracken, nightshade foliage, rhubarb leaves, avocado |
| Never in the feeder | Mouldy grain or scraps, and any scraps that contain or have touched meat |
| Unwell bird | Fluffed up and still, open-mouth breathing, dirty vent or watery droppings: separate her and call a vet |
How chickens treat a garden
The RSPCA describes foraging as exploratory behaviour that involves scratching and pecking at the ground, and notes that hens do it even when feed is freely available. Three habits do the damage.
- Scratching. A hen rakes back the top few centimetres of soil with both feet. Mulch lands on the path, shallow roots are exposed and seedlings are flung aside.
- Dust bathing. Hens throw dust through their feathers to clean their plumage and cool down, and the RSPCA says they become frustrated without somewhere to do it. They dig their bowls in the driest, shadiest soil available, usually the base of your best shrub.
- Pecking. Soft new growth and anything green at head height go first. Tough, fibrous or strongly scented foliage is usually left alone.
Three placements beat all three habits. Cage the roots with a ring of wire mesh pegged over the root zone or a collar of large rocks, and grow greens under a low wire frame so the hens graze the shoots that come through without uprooting them. Plant established stock in 200 millimetre pots or larger, because tubestock and seedlings inside a run rarely survive, and fence new plants off for their first season. Plant outside the fence line, the most reliable trick of all: shrubs and grasses on the outside of the wire hang foliage in for pecking while the roots stay untouched. The RSPCA also notes that rotating range areas maintains vegetation cover, so two runs used in turn beat one used all year.
Shade and shelter for Australian summers
Poultry Hub Australia puts the most efficient temperature for layers between 20 and 24 degrees Celsius and says birds start to pant and change their body position above their comfort zone. A grown hen drinks 250 to 300 millilitres a day and up to half a litre in hot weather. Its coop advice is to keep the house in a partially shaded, dry spot and never in direct sunlight.
The RSPCA adds a second reason for cover. Hens are prey animals, naturally fearful of aerial predators, so they need overhead or vertical cover they can reach easily, natural such as trees and shrubs or artificial such as shade cloth, and ranges with palatable vegetation, trees, shrubs and logs draw more hens out than bare ones. In practice: a deciduous tree on the northern or western side for summer shade and winter sun, an evergreen screen on the hot western fence, low dense shrubs for cover from hawks, and a log for a cool dust bath beneath.
Forage, hanging greens and the herb folklore
Poultry Hub is clear that a commercial layer ration supplies the essential nutrients and that grain and scraps alone leave birds short, so forage is a top up rather than the diet. Hang a whole silverbeet, cabbage or kale at head height, which keeps the birds busy and the greens out of the dirt, and throw in lucerne hay, which Poultry Hub lists as enrichment with plenty to pick at. Long grass is the exception: Poultry Hub warns that it can block the crop and gizzard, so keep grass in the run mown short.
Wormwood, tansy, lavender, rosemary and mint have been planted beside chook houses for generations, usually with the claim that they keep lice and mites away. As far as the sources here go, that is folklore. What the RSPCA and Poultry Hub document is that hens control their own parasites by bathing in dry, loose dirt, so a dust bath does more than any hedge. The herbs still earn a place for an honest reason: hens leave strongly scented foliage alone, so these plants survive on the fence line where softer ones do not. Wormwood and tansy contain thujone, so keep them outside the wire as ornamentals rather than forage. Mint is safe but runs, and hens scratch it out; grow it in a pot.
Plants that earn their place around a run
Trees for shade and drop
- Black mulberry (Morus nigra). The classic chook-run tree: bare in winter, dense in summer, months of fallen fruit and leaves that are safe to eat. Grows in every mainland climate.
- Meyer lemon (Citrus x meyeri). Evergreen, nearly thornless and the hardiest lemon for cool areas. Hens ignore it, so it is shade rather than forage; other sizes sit in our citrus range.
- Weeping bottlebrush (Callistemon viminalis). Fast native shade that copes with heat and wet feet. Guard the trunk for the first year.
- Lemon myrtle (Backhousia citriodora). Dense evergreen shade for the subtropics and warm temperate coast, with a culinary leaf. Slow in the cool south.
- Slender weavers bamboo (Bambusa textilis Gracilis). Clumping, not running, so it stays put. A quick screen for a western fence, and the leaf litter gives hens something to turn over.
Shrubs for the fence line
- Coastal rosemary (Westringia fruticosa). Salt and drought hardy and ignored by hens. Hedge it along the outside of the wire; our westringia care guide covers pruning.
- Saltbush (Rhagodia spinescens). Edible salty foliage that hens strip and the plant regrows. The best forage shrub for the dry inland, Perth and Adelaide.
- Midyim berry (Austromyrtus dulcis). Low native shrub with sweet white berries that birds and people share. Outside the fence, or it will be scratched out.
Herbs
- Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis). Left alone by hens, takes heat and neglect, needs sharp drainage.
- English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) for cool and dry climates, and French lavender (Lavandula dentata) for the humid coast. Our lavender care guide says which suits your area.
- Lemon thyme (Thymus citriodorus). A safe, tough edge plant for the sunny side of the wire.
Grasses and ground covers
- Lomandra longifolia. Fibrous leaves hens do not eat, a clump they shelter beside and roots that shrug off scratching. See our lomandra care guide.
- Flax lily (Dianella caerulea). Strappy, shade tolerant and left alone; useful under the mulberry.
- Tussock grass (Poa labillardieri). Cover and seed for the outer run in the cool south; clip it short.
- Pigface (Carpobrotus). A native succulent for hot, dry, sandy sites that hens nibble lightly.
- Native violet (Viola hederacea). Shade ground cover under trees; pecked, but it recovers away from heavy traffic.
- Kidney weed (Dichondra repens). A living lawn substitute that takes foot traffic in the outer run.
More candidates sit in our Australian natives and edible plants collections; run each through the three tests before it goes inside the wire.
What to keep away
Well fed hens usually avoid toxic plants, but bored, hungry or confined birds sample anything, and the lists that poisons centres publish for people are a fair guide to what should not be in a run.
- Oleander. All parts are highly poisonous, and the Victorian Poisons Information Centre recommends that new oleanders not be planted at all.
- Foxglove. NSW Health: all parts are toxic and affect the heart.
- Angel's trumpet (Brugmansia) and datura. All parts toxic, on both the Victorian and NSW lists.
- Castor oil plant. All parts, especially the seeds when crushed or chewed.
- Lantana. On the Victorian list. The Queensland Government notes some varieties are poisonous to stock, and it is a restricted invasive plant there.
- Nightshade foliage and green potato. The Victorian list names the Solanum nightshades. Green potato skin and sprouts and potato and tomato foliage carry the same glycoalkaloids; ripe tomato fruit is fine.
- Rhubarb leaves. NSW Health notes they contain oxalate. Never the leaf.
- Azalea and rhododendron. Their grayanotoxins have a long record of poisoning grazing animals and people.
- Bracken. The MSD Veterinary Manual documents bracken poisoning in cattle, horses, sheep and pigs. On bush blocks, fence it out.
- Brunfelsia (yesterday, today and tomorrow). Well documented for poisoning dogs in Australia. Treat it as unsafe for birds too.
- Yew. A cool-climate hedging conifer whose foliage and seed are toxic to stock and people.
- Avocado. The MSD Veterinary Manual says the toxin persin is in fruit, leaves, stems and seeds, the leaves being the most toxic, and that in birds it causes lethargy, laboured breathing, fluid under the skin of the neck and chest, and death. Chickens and turkeys seem more resistant than caged birds, which is no reason to test it. The RSPCA lists avocado among the foods birds must never have.
- Acorns and elderberry. Acorns in quantity are documented as poisoning stock, and elderberry foliage and unripe fruit contain cyanide-forming compounds. Rake up oak drop and keep elder outside the wire.
- Mouldy feed. The MSD Veterinary Manual calls aflatoxin, from Aspergillus and Penicillium moulds in feed and bedding, an important intoxication in poultry, with lost appetite, staggering, seizures, listlessness and death; ducks are especially sensitive. Store feed dry and sealed and discard anything musty. The RSPCA puts mouldy or spoiled food on its never list for birds.
- Meat scraps. Queensland makes it illegal to feed poultry swill, anything that contains or has touched the carcass of a mammal or bird, because it can carry Newcastle disease. Whatever your state, keep meat out of the run; vegetable, fruit and cereal scraps are fine.
Birds hide illness. The RSPCA says a sick bird will try to look healthy until it can no longer manage it, so watch the flock undisturbed for a few minutes each day. Its warning signs include a drooping wing or lameness, open-mouth breathing, rough feathering or feather loss, watery eyes, discharge above the nostrils, staining around the vent, and watery or oddly coloured droppings. Separate any hen showing these, or one standing fluffed up and still while the others forage, and have her seen by a poultry or avian vet that day; Poultry Hub's advice for any treatment is to see your local veterinarian. If you suspect a plant, remove the flock from it and take a sprig to the vet. The Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26 is for people, and the same plants injure children who nibble them.
Getting it right
- Start with the shade. Plant the deciduous tree and the western screen first, in autumn or spring, with a wire cylinder around each trunk and a mesh ring over the roots for two years.
- Hedge the outside. Westringia, saltbush, rosemary and lavender go on the outer side of the fence, close enough that new growth pokes through.
- Build a forage frame. A timber frame with wire on top, set over sown greens or a patch of dichondra, lets hens graze what grows through without reaching the roots.
- Give them a dust bath. A tyre or low box of dry sand and soil in the shadiest corner saves your shrubs from excavation.
- Water plants, not the run. Wet runs breed flies and disease. Water at the root and keep the coop dry.
- Rotate. Two runs used in turn, or a movable fence, is the only way to keep living ground cover.
Climate changes the choices. In the tropics and subtropics, shade and airflow matter most: mulberry, lemon myrtle and clumping bamboo thrive, French lavender replaces English, rosemary needs a raised bed, and bracken and lantana are common on bush edges, so check the fence line. On the warm temperate coast almost everything above grows. In the cool temperate south, mulberry and Meyer lemon are the reliable pair, lemon myrtle and bamboo are slow, tussock grass and lomandra excel, and old gardens often hold foxglove and yew. In the dry inland and in Perth and Adelaide, saltbush, westringia, rosemary, lavender, pigface and lomandra do the heavy lifting, mulberry and citrus need summer water, and shade cloth is the fallback on days above 40 degrees.
A word of caution
Council rules on poultry differ between states and even neighbouring suburbs; Logan City Council in Queensland, for example, requires enclosures at least 90 centimetres from the boundary and 10 metres from a neighbouring dwelling, so check your own council before you build. The toxicity lists above are written for people and grazing stock, and very few garden plants have been tested on chickens, so absence from a list is not proof of safety: when in doubt, plant it outside the fence. For an unwell bird, a poultry or avian vet is the authority, not this guide.
Sources
- RSPCA Australia Knowledgebase: encouraging hens to use the range, shade, shelter and vegetation for hens
- RSPCA Australia Knowledgebase: normal behaviours of layer hens, foraging, dust bathing and perching
- RSPCA Australia Knowledgebase: what a healthy bird looks like, signs of an unwell bird
- RSPCA Australia Knowledgebase: household hazards for birds, avocado and mouldy food
- Poultry Hub Australia: climate in poultry houses, comfort temperatures and panting
- Poultry Hub Australia: general tips for backyard poultry, shade, water and hygiene
- Poultry Hub Australia: common problems in backyard chickens, crop impaction and vet advice
- Poultry Hub Australia: environmental enrichment, lucerne hay and foraging enrichment
- Victorian Poisons Information Centre: poisonous plants list, plants that seriously poison children
- Victorian Poisons Information Centre: oleander, all parts highly poisonous
- NSW Health: poisonous or harmful plants factsheet, foxglove, castor oil plant, nightshade, rhubarb
- Queensland Government: lantana, toxicity to stock and restricted status
- Queensland Government: prohibited feed for poultry, swill feeding rules
- Logan City Council: chickens and roosters, example council setback rules
- MSD Veterinary Manual: avocado toxicosis in animals, persin and birds
- MSD Veterinary Manual: poisonings in poultry, aflatoxin and plant toxins
- MSD Veterinary Manual: bracken fern poisoning, affected livestock and signs
Planting where young children play? Our guide to safe plants for childcare centres and school gardens lists what the poisons centres and Kidsafe say to remove, and the tough, soft and edible plants that fit a play space.
