The coop my husband built last year looks much like yours. We had planted a pear and an apricot in the run , but both were blighted their first winter here in So Utah. Outside the coop we planted a fugi apple which got blight but has survived thus far. I’m really looking forward to when it will be tall enough to provide shade to the hen run. We also have two lilacs and two roses in the run, all surrounded with chicken wire and we continue to fight the hens for permanent placement of the irrigation drip lines! There’s also a tall Photinia behind the coop to provide a small area for shade and mud puddle. Unfortunately the wild birds are all over this area too. Chicken keeping hasn’t been easy for me in this new environment, nor fruit tree growing, but I shall persevere until I run out of varieties of both to try. Around the run on the outside I have tomato, cucumber and berry plants. I like the above suggestion to add sunflowers in this border as well. I’ve also asked for a screened box to lay over some sprouting grass seed so the girls would get grass that way without killing it all.
In a previous life in NorCal, the chicken run included a large rosemary shrub and a small fig tree. I’d like to do the same here. They did scratch around both, but didn’t destroy either. I also have a small mulberry in a pot now that I could transfer to the run in the future. Another great idea from the forum users!
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@krismoriah I like the rain gutter. Future plans for a rain barrel?
@EmptyBadger
I would try some goumi which are the nicer cousin to autumn berries
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i plan to root cuttings of my 2 goumi to spread them around some then graft over to other more improved cultivars later on.
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Here’s a pic of my run from a few years back. I’m growing more grape varieties now and have pulled some of the bamboo closer to the fencing so the rhizomes don’t easily escape. I have the mulberries getting planted in there permanently as well. This is looking SE.
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@clarkinks Thats a great idea. A friend of mine has a goumi. They grow great here.
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@steveb4 Any specific trick to rooting goumi?
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Chicken jungle. Looks great! Mine currently looks like a wasteland.
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We came a long way. This was only a few years prior to the other image.
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@weatherandtrees wow! What a change?!? What kind of grapes are you growing?
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I had Concord Seedless and Mars growing, but I wasn’t a fan of the seed traces (for my eating pleasure) so I transitioned to other seedless varieties. I think I put 2 green, 2 red, and 2 blackish (Everest) in. Reds are Vanessa and Canadice…greens Gratitude and Himrod. Last year was the first year they really set fruit and I was hit with major black rot. So now I’m torn on spraying around the birds or going back to the Concord seedless/Mars where I had no issues.
These were the old ones. I probably should’ve left them and grow the others elsewhere.
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If I had chickens… and I may some day…
I would plant goumi and mulberry to provide them lots of free food spring and summer… and an american persimmon for lots of fall fruit. A mulberry like Illinois everbearing or Silk Hope would provide them some nice shade and lots of fruit drop.
My sisters rich tooie persimmon tree covers the ground a inch or two deep in persimmon fruit each year. They ripen and fall for near two months.
TNHunter
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Mulberries are great. Most dont think that worlds best tastes the greatest… but it does pump out the fruit.
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@TNHunter I must admit, Ive never had a persimmon. They take longer to bear right? Worth it? What would you suggest for our climate? Not just for the birds but for fresh eating too?
What mulberry would you recommend? Gerardi Dwarf? Do you have issues with popcorn disease on the Illinois Everbearing in TN? Again, mostly for fresh eating but feeding chickens as a side benefit.
Dang @krismoriah is that a mulberry!?! What kind?
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Yes. WB, thai dwarf, and chiang mae 60 are all similar… if not the same depending on source. Z7 is probably pushing it and better quality and production in z8 and above. Pics above are from Las Vegas. Not worth growing other than ornamental or bird fodder here. YMMV.
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i just take scions in the fall, scratch the cambium and stick in the ground outdoors, then mulch. they root over the winter and grow come spring. i get about 70% takes this way. never had much luck rooting in pots.
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