Dandelions and chickens?

[raven880]

Any problem with feeding dandelions to the chickens? I dug up several in my yard today and thought they might enjoy them. I don't use chemicals on my yard so that isn't an issue. Give it to them root and all or remove leaves and give only leaves and flower?

Thanks guys.

 

[healingdeva]

I read somewhere to give them the whole thing, including root and dirt. They will find any grubs, etc on the roots and eat all of the greens, flowers and part of the root. The rest of the root may get buried in their run (if outdoors) and grow more greens for the girls.

 

[sgtmom52]

My girls love them! I take a bucket and a dandelion fork and walk through my gardens and yard everyday digging up dandelions and other weeds. I also check under rocks and things for worms, grubs and other goodies and throw them in too. I fill up the bucket and dump it in their run - keeps them busy for hours! It makes my weeding chore a little more pleasant too!

 

[raven880]

Great! I know what I"ll be doing with my dandelion crop now. Since I stopped using chemical fertilizers with herbicides in them I have way more weeds than I'd like but I have peace of mind that I"m not covering my dogs in chemicals anymore. And, I had 3 that were having seizures and once I went organic on the lawn, no more seizures. Could be coincidental , of course, but I'm not taking any more chances.

My chickens are house pets but they do live in a birdroom with my parrots so dumping some dirt with the dandelions won't hurt a thing. My only concern is also introducing them to parasites that they don't have by being inside.

Thanks for the input tho.

 

[speckledhen]

My girls love the greens, but don't eat the flowers.

 

[Nuggetsowner:)]

My girls LOVE them!! They also eat about anything!

 

[hensdeliverthegoods]

This is great to know, I was wondering about dandelions. I know my girls go crazy for clover, so I thought they might like dandelion greens. Don't think they could eat the flowers though, it would be like eating one of their own! See, all my hens have flower names, and the name of my coop is "Coop des Fleur"

 

[talos321]

They eat the stems, leaves, and roots. I keep the flowers for Dandelion Wine.

 

[nccountrygirl]

Mine love them

 

[chickenannie]

Make dandelion wine!! I made it last year and it was amazing. I can't wait to make more this week. You can chop up the leaves if your chicks are small. They are very healthy (for people as well as chickens) and have more vitamins than many greens because their taproot goes deep and gets more minerals and vits from the soil. You'll soon run out of these "weeds" and wish you had more growing in your yard.