Monarch butterflies have a specialized life cycle that requires milkweeds as a place for their young to hatch and develop. Because of this many places make it illegal to remove milkweed and in fact encourage its growth. While this is great for the butterflies, it’s not great for your chickens who can actually poison themselves if they eat the plant by mistake!
Milkweed Mistakes and Free Ranging
We are in the camp that thinks milkweed is important. We have lots that grows on the boarders of our yard as well in sections we let it go naturally, but it is very important we prevent it from spreading into our chicken run. While milkweed is essential for keeping monarch butterflies around we can’t simply just let it grow everywhere. The good thing is it’s easy to avoid mistakes.
The most common mistake with milkweed is that people will let it grow in the same places you that you grow plants for your chickens to forage in. Chickens often will leave milkweed alone, but if it’s mixed in with things they want to eat, they’re not quite smart enough to not make a few mistakes of their own. Luckily, milkweed is a very easy to spot family of plants (there are many types of milkweed). Their large leaves are distinct and you can often plan on either separating existing plants or ensuring they don’t spread into your yard in spaces where your chickens free range.
For us, mowing the lawn regularly between where milkweed grows and where the chickens are allowed to forage is all it takes to keep the plants out of their beaks. Ultimately this makes a safer space for our chickens and safer space for any potential monarch butterflies.
An Ounce of Prevention
The easiest way to keep your chickens from eating milkweed is to ensure you know about the plant before you let them graze your yard. If you find some growing and it is in your chickens area, we would recommend removing it (if permissible by law) or putting up a barrier between it and your chickens. If you are worried about destroying monarch habitat, as we were, you can grow milkweed purposefully in a bed that your chickens are separated from.
Knowledge is Your Best Weapon
Really knowing your yard, your garden, and your chickens comes in handy in keeping them safe. If you’re unsure about what plants are growing in your yard, then free ranging your chickens is a bit risky. If you do know what’s in your yard, then you can easily mitigate risk and keep your flock happy and healthy.
There’s more than milkweed out there that can make your birds sick, so stay vigilant! Happy Homesteading!