cant free range-what can I throw in-will they eat bad stuff?

[sueandthe6]

my one dog will kill them I have no doubt in my mind.. so I want to maybe throw in some stuff for them to work at. I live in southeast pa. We have these huge weedy flowers- called them queen annes lace as a kid. big white flowers with an eensie purple flower in the very middle. they are growing everywhere in my field. Also have a bush- tried to look it up via local shrubs with berries but no luck. the berries almost remind me of holly but the leaves are not at all- and there are berries now so definitely not holly. someone told me to just go ahead and throw them in and if they shouldn't eat them they wont- I am skeptical enough to try to figure out what it is first. I will try to get a pic but in the meantime anyone know about the queen annes lace> ? thanks

 

[Folly's place]

I think you should identify any plants, especially with berries, that you offer. My birds free range, so they have many choices, and tend to avoid the bad stuff. Yours have no experience, and no choices except what you provide, so don't expect them to know what to eat! There's lots of good stuff available so stick with safe offerings. Mary

 

[yyz0yyz0]

Mine love clover which is a weed in all my gardens.

If you have room in the pen you could try some grazing frames for them. Think of a hardware cloth dirt sifter made with 2x4 frame, place it on the ground so the hw cloth is on the up side and throw some seeds(grass, wheat, oats, barley. etc) through the screen. The seeds will grow up through the screen and the girls can eat what grows up through but not dig up the plants so they will last longer. As the growth gets real thick you can then pull up the frame and move it to a new location and let them dig up the plants at the old location.

 

[sueandthe6]

Think of a hardware cloth dirt sifter made with 2x4 frame, place it on the ground so the hw cloth is on the up side and throw some seeds



love this idea. expanding their enclosure and there will be a spot for this. thank you