Alternatives to grass

[DonyaQuick]

My six chickens are grass addicts. Last year they regularly got grass clippings and supervised foraging around the coop. They eat plenty of regular feed too, they just love a good side of grass and weeds like clover and dandelion. The snow has finally melted enough to let what grass has survived peak through, and my chickens are losing their tiny minds wanting to get at it. I can't let them have it though; even if I wasn't taking precautions to do with the avian influenza spreading up the east coast, they'd completely destroy the area if I let them on it before it regrows thick enough. Over the winter I gave them portions of orchard grass hay every couple of days. I used the little hay bags that are meant for rabbits. Sometimes they're easy for the chickens to eat, sometimes not due to being really long strands and I have to kind of break it up for them. The hay is also less appealing to them now they can see real grass, so I'm looking for other options.

I was thinking about trying to sprout seeds as an alternative, either sprouting scratch or buying seeds specifically for it. How easy is it to that on a regular basis without creating a mold/mildew mess? Are the starter kits with little trays for it worthwhile or a waste of money?

Also open to any other suggestions on I can give them that's green, kind of grass-like, and easy to obtain or grow indoors without a big setup. I also grow beets for their leaves in a small pot indoors but only get enough to take clippings for them every 2-3 weeks rather than every few days. I'm hoping for something that will be a bit more abundant or easy to produce.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Store bought lettuce, spinach, or other greens are a treat most flocks love. A lot of folks on here also have had good luck with sprouting seeds.

An approach I've used in the past is to make a ring out of scrap welded wire fence and place it over a spot in the run that has no grass and they've worked over pretty good. I then plant seeds in that...grasses, clover, cover crop blends, etc. The flock can't reach the seeds, so they sprout and start to grow. Simply move the ring (either totally or partially) to expose some/all of the treats for the flock.

I like this approach as it recycles some of the nutrients in the run soil into more food for the flock.

 

[K0k0shka]

Good ideas already given. If that doesn't work, then leave them to their commercial feed - it has all the nutrients they need, anything else is a bonus they don't have to have. And don't let them bully you. It's like kids - they'll beg you for candy and climb to the top shelf to get it, but that doesn't mean you should give it to them

 

[Weeg]

I think sprouts, and store bought greens are a great idea! You could also do hay, I know that Alfalfa is great in the winter since its high in protein. You could sprout fodder.
Maybe look on Etsy too, what about herbal feed supplements? I made a foray mix for my girls out of alfalfa hay, herbs, and goji berries. They loved it!

 

[DonyaQuick]

Store bought lettuce, spinach, or other greens are a treat most flocks love.

I got them a head of lettuce today - it'll last a bit giving them chunks. I give them cucumbers and other things sometimes for variety but little things like that are gone in a flash whereas the hay takes them a while.

And don't let them bully you.

Do I tell them not to bully me before or after all six of them have jumped on my back and head to demand hugs just because I leaned down to change out their water dish? I do have spoiled/pampered chickens. But seriously though, one of them is a little ninja who is impossible to block when I open the door if she really wants something out there, and I'm trying to curb that as much as I can right now. The orchard grass hay was working well to stop her from having that urge until the lawn grass emerged. The hay also took them a fairly long time to go through too; a good sized wad lasted several days as a periodic distraction for them.

Maybe look on Etsy too, what about herbal feed supplements? I made a foray mix for my girls out of alfalfa hay, herbs, and goji berries. They loved it!

I'll have a look - thanks for the suggestion! I've had a hard time finding alfalfa in anything except whole bales locally (I have no way to keep a whole bale dry with certainty at the moment) but I see some decent-looking chopped alfalfa options online in smaller amounts. Might give one of those a try.

 

[638858]

Fodder.. it’s very easy to sprout your own seed.. look on Amazon for sprouting lids, they are mesh lids that work with mason jar rings.. or make your own.. you can sprout a jar of seed in 5 days, stagger them according to your birds/needs.. you can sprout in a 5 gallon bucket too.. or in flat trays.. depending on how many sprouts you may need.. and they are good for us too.. I sprout salad mix, BOSS, collards, turnips, alfalfa, broccoli, spinach, mung beans, peas, beans all kinds of healthy snack options for us and them..

 

[Percheron chick]

I'll have a look - thanks for the suggestion! I've had a hard time finding alfalfa in anything except whole bales locally (I have no way to keep a whole bale dry with certainty at the moment) but I see some decent-looking chopped alfalfa options online in smaller amounts. Might give one of those a try.

A bale if hay fits nicely in a square Rubbermaid garbage can. Slide the bale in then cut the strings. Alfalfa is definitely a better choice over grass. Easy for them to pick out the leaves where most of the good stuff is. There are also zipper hay bags. Whole bale fits in it. If your run is covered you can just place the entire bale out in the run. Do not cut the strings. Should last at least a month. You can also go with alfalfa cubes or pellets. Not as good quality as hay typically. Just toss them in the run. Get out of the rabbit feed section. Stanlee sells chopped bagged hay in most TSC type stores in the horse section.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Well, two bummer experiments so far in trying to find other entertainment foods for my chickens.

I found a place that had small bags of alfalfa for rabbits and got one...but my sinuses don't handle it well at all. As a kid I was around horses a lot and definitely was allergic to some other types of hay (timothy in particular), but don't recall ever having issues with alfalfa then. The sniffles came as a surprise. My chickens loved it, but if it's an allergen for me now then they may have to settle for something else.

So then I tried sprouting some scratch grains. Day 1 after setup was ok, then day 2 was a mold bomb just as there was a tiny hint of sprouting on the majority of the grains. Bad grains? Wondering now if I should even be letting the chickens have any more of the scratch from that bag or if I should toss it...

I have some dried peas. Might give sprouting those a try next.

 

[Percheron chick]

Could of not been straight alfalfa.

 

[BDutch]

If you put hwc on the grass to cover the grass area, the chickens don’t destroy the roots.
But you can only do this is a fenced area.