One of the best moves we made was putting the chickens out to roam under the red raspberries! This patch was tiny, just two rows with a few stalks each when we moved in, in 2010:
Now, it's a chicken paradise, and they poop everywhere and scratch and make dustbaths. They have all sorts of tunnel-like paths under it, it gives them cover from the hawks and shade from the sun, and it's the best symbiotic relationship ever. Raspberries are strong plants with strong roots, and they stand up to chickens very well. In this video I threw down some dried mealworms just to get the hens to come out - they wanted to stay underneath in the shade!
Our gorgeous bushes are huge now, the canes are taller than a man, and we get so many raspberries we have to freeze them to enjoy in winter. This is the same exact patch of ground now:
❤️
Chickens + Raspberries = Heaven