Dandelions

[Achio]

Mine love dandelions and willow leaves.

 

[kwanniet]

Mine love dandelion leaves, watercress, and wild garlic leaves, they love any greens! They really aren't fussy! They also love grapes and mealworms and woodlice and spiders! Which is a good thing..since i'm not fond of spiders!

My question is... how do i know which plants are safe for chickens to eat? we have a few leafy plants in our garden that grow amongst our vegetables... are there any plants that chickens should not be given?

Oh yeah! They also love blackberries! In the summer, i freshly pick them and put them in water to make some blackcurrent juice and they love it!

Thanks

 

[LDev]

I would like to know this too, I only know the things they are allowed to eat...new to hen keeping ps also glad that my hens love any insect that moves...especially spiders lol!

 

[pickitfarm]

We have spoiled brats, they love all of the greenery available, clover is a favorite. The loved when we gave the Collard Greens and Cabbage this fall. They go crazy over strawberries and we just picked some squash, the first of the season and they went nuts. Yes, spoiled brats. I can't wait to feed them their first watermelon. My husband said he did that when he was younger to his chickens and they would go bezerk. All you do is just smash it on the ground and they clean it up.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

Mine eat anything and everything!

 

[sahagi]

Each of my hens has a different favorite, but they never miss a chance to terrorize the lettuce patch of my garden if they can get in there. I noticed they'd rather eat dandelion greens while they're stuck in the ground as they can tear bites off the leaves easier. Once I put a whole pile of dug-up dandelions out for them and they had some trouble with it. They would try to tear off a piece of leaf and the whole plant would fly up in the air.

Sometimes I give them a handful of cheerios as a treat. One of my hens is broody and has been quite jumpy when she takes a break from sitting on the nest. Yesterday she stalked a little pile of cheerios for several minutes, repeatedly sneaking up close and then jumping back with a squawk like they were going to bite her. It was quite comical.

.

 

[redneck farmer]

Mine eat throw an grow ( witch is a type of plant that deer hunters use to grow plants for i c a deer that grows really quick an hahahahahah u just throw it an it grows (hence the name) )
An they live broccoli an yogurt an I think at Augustine grass but I'm not grass expert they just et stuff that looks like grass in general

 

[Windy Bay Farm]

An

Grit is small, loose particles of sand and gravel.  Chickens don't have teeth and can't chew their food. They swallow it whole.  They need grit in their diet to help their gizzard grind up what they eat in order for them to digest it.

Any idea how old a chick should be before you give them grit ?

 

[bittlesbirds]

I gave mine a little piece of a home made breadstick that had landed on the floor took them forever to eat it because they kept snatching it out each others beaks.

 

[pickitfarm]

An
Any idea how old a chick should be before you give them grit ?

When they are young they typically don't need grit if they are being feed chick starter. If you do want to feed them grit you can give them grit from a pet store. They sell it for parrots or another kind of pet bird. If they are kept outside sometimes the can pick up enough from the ground depending on your soil.