DonyaQuick
Songster
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.
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.