Learn How to Keep Your Flock Safe in Your Gardenon The Chicken Encyclopedia Blog Tour

Many chicken keepers dream of letting their  flock range free in their gardens – living carefree, happy lives chasing insects, bathing in the dust, and lounging in the sun.  Chickens can also prove to be a useful gardening tool – keeping down weeds and pest populations, aerating the soil, composting greens and food waste as well as providing fertilizer for your soil. 

But before you let your birds loose, you’d better do a thorough inventory of your garden – as discussed by today’s The Chicken Encyclopedia blog tour blogger, Daricia from A Charlotte Garden, many common plants can be toxic to your flock.

It's the oleander!  Those bright blooms and slender leaves are potentially toxic to chickens.  And there are other common, everyday plants that you should keep your chickens away from:  Pokeberry (Phytolacca Americana).  Milkweed (Asclepias spp.).   You will learn about this from the handy Common Potentially Toxic Plants chart on pages 272-3 of the new The Chicken Encyclopedia by Gail Damerow.

Indeed, Gail’s chart lists 17 potentially toxic common plants – along with illustrations so you know what to keep an eye out for.

Make sure to stop by A Charlotte Garden today to learn more about common garden plants that could hurt your hens, and enter a chance to win your own copy of The Chicken Encyclopedia. 

And don’t forget to come back tomorrow to continue your ride on The Chicken Encyclopedia Blog Tour!

3/2 For the Love of Chickens
3/3 Vintage Garden Gal
3/4 The Garden Roof Coop
3/5 Common Weeder
3/6 Chickens in the Road
3/7 Garden Rant
3/8 Fresh Eggs Daily
3/9 My Pet Chicken Blog
3/10 Coop Thoughts
3/11 BoHo Farm and Home
3/12 Happy Chickens Lay Healthy Eggs
* 3/13 A Charlotte Garden
3/14 Farm Fresh Fun
3/15 The HenCam
3/16 Life on a Southern Farm
3/17 ADozenGirlz, the Chicken Chick™
3/18 North Coast Gardening