I cant kill it.

[ShellieESterling]

Shellie thats great.. Then your Biship's PLANT isnt a weed to you........LOL Weeds are plants in the wrong spot.... Great feeding for the birds if it isnt a problem plant. Google "Posionous plants for animals."

Best to you
Jack

No, it's not a weed to me. My mother hates it though. But heck, I even like the dandelions! They're edible and I like the yellow flowers mixed in with a nice green lawn.

I'll double check dangerous plants for chickens, though I don't recall seeing it there before. Thanks Jack

 

[ShellieESterling]

I'll double check dangerous plants for chickens, though I don't recall seeing it there before. Thanks Jack

Bummer, PoultryHelp says "Bishop's Weed may contain toxic levels of nitrates". Guess I shouldn't use it then?

 

[patandchickens]

There are a LOT of plants (including, ironically, chickweed) that are typically listed as 'may contain toxic levels of nitrates'.

It basically depends on how the plant happens to be growing. FOR PASTURE PLANTS IN GENERAL the nitrate problem is worst when you have rapid growth or newly-matured stands (I do not guarantee that this is true for every single plant, mind). And it depends how much of the plant the animals eat.

So I think this is one of the (many many many) 'borderline' plants that it's sort of a matter of your own judgement and discretion.

Personally I have no qualms about tossing the chickens a *bit* of chickweed, pigweed, clover, vetch, etc. I do not however put big wads of it in an otherwise-bare pen. If they were freeranging I would not worry about it, personally, as it would be massively impossible for me to eliminate ALL the possibly-high-nitrate plants from my yard so the chickens are just kinda on their own. Of course if I freeranged my chickens, the raccoons and hawks would get them LONG before nitrate poisoning did Anyhow, it's definitely a personal decision.

Pat

 

[Tutter]

But heck, I even like the dandelions! They're edible and I like the yellow flowers mixed in with a nice green lawn.

I'm a bit of a dandelion fan, too. I don't mind the flowers; they are endless fun for kids...and me...to blow on when they are in the fuzzy white stage, if one wanted to they make wine, they are a a spring "tonic", and the critters like their share, too. (The green part, not the flowers.)

Then again, it's only a weed if you don't want it. Mine are friendly little visitors, as it seems yours are, too. Except that I haven't got a lawn. I'm the type to look at a lawn and see a new area to grow vegetables, flowers etc.

My hens love clover, Pat. We don't have pigweed and chickweed, and the vetch is sparse up where the chickens are. Basically, when dh pulls spring weeds, they get a mixed salad of whatever's there, with the major exception of hemlock.

 

[patandchickens]

My hens love clover, Pat.

Oh, mine too, and when they're on the lawn in the tractor they eat whatever, including lotsa clover and vetch (I am not a big one for worrying about the monocultureness of my grass <g>). I just wouldn't take hens that are in a bare run with not much else fun to eat, and throw THEM a great armful of one of the possibly-hi-nitrate things. They might be too bored and hungry to exercise the discretion that 'pastured' chickens probably do.

Pat

 

[Tutter]

Absolutely!

 

[ShellieESterling]

Then again, it's only a weed if you don't want it. Mine are friendly little visitors, as it seems yours are, too. Except that I haven't got a lawn. I'm the type to look at a lawn and see a new area to grow vegetables, flowers etc.

Oh of course! The new farmhouse is sitting on 1 cleared acre. I want to make a good 1/2 of that a veggie garden... DH is suckering me into a swimming pool, so I guess I can still see my pretty little dandelions scattered around that.

But sadly, here in town, the backyard is about 30x30 and covered in dandelions and grass (minus my pergola planter box DH made me last summer). My neighbor, the nature hater, frequently asks what I plan to do about the nuisance weeds She needs a hobby, instead of worrying about my yard. LOL

Here's a pic of the planter he made me... Sorry if it's huge, I don't know how to resize it. The peas love it this year, they're crawling right up the lattice.

ETA -- that's nature hater's neon blue porch, not mine. LOL

 

[ridgefire]

Please excuse my lack of knowledge when it comes to plant ids.

Is there a plant that looks like rubarb, but its not rubarb.

I was cleaning up around the back of my property and I found this very large plant with broad leaves, it had stalks that were a redish color, looked like rubarb stalks. But it didnt smell like any rubarb I have harvested in the past.

 

[Tutter]

The picture doesn't show, darn!