Does anyone have a chicken garden?

[Vata Raven]

I was just looking at this you posted so I went to the web site and just now ordered a 5lb. bag of the killer clover, I'll let you know how it does. Thanks for the link. : )

Awesome! I ordered some today, too, lol

I plan to order other pasture seeds with my next pay check. Maybe buckwheat? Millet? Hard to decide because I think the chickens will eat anything but milo.

 

[Vata Raven]

I use gutters with chicken wire over them to raise my microgreens... I just have 3 rows, planted at intervals so that I always have fresh salad. I'm planning to do the same in the run for my flock. I got the 10 ft gutters on fb marketplace for about $5. They were used, but vinyl so they just needed cleaned up and drain holes added. Manure mix and NO fertilizer... They sprout in about 4 days and are ready to eat in 15.

Funny enough, I just got gutters to make a cheap feeding trough for my flock.

Works well enough. Just wish I could close the top, but I guess it doesn't matter if they empty it.

How would you do the gutter sprouts for your flock? Sprout them and put the gutter in front of them like a dinner table, or would you dump the contents out?

 

[ViewAskew]

We live in a urban area in the PNW. Several years ago we moved from free ranging our hens to giving them a large space (~20'x30') that was just theirs . I noticed that the quality of yolk deminished with the lack of free ranging, so I built them 2 2x4 foot slightly raised beds with hardware cloth lids. I plant clover and rye grass in the beds. The lids sit 2-4 inches above the soil and protect the plants from being destroyed by the hens. The hens eat everything above the hardward cloth while the roots stay intact. The outdoor run is large so there is plenty of other ground they can dig up. (and we have deep orange colored yolks again).

 

[Vata Raven]

The lids sit 2-4 inches above the soil and protect the plants from being destroyed by the hens.

Do they grow back fairly fast?

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

anyone know if garden huckleberry (Solanum scabrum) is safe for chickens? it's in the same family as tomatoes... but can't find much info.

 

[ViewAskew]

Do they grow back fairly fast?

I would never know as the hens keep the crop "cropped" at the level of the hardware cloth. But the plants don't die from being pecked/dug up, they just keep producing.

 

[Vata Raven]

But the plants don't die from being pecked/dug up, they just keep producing.

That's what I wanted to know. Thanks you!

 

[Vata Raven]

anyone know if garden huckleberry (Solanum scabrum) is safe for chickens? it's in the same family as tomatoes... but can't find much info.

For tomatoes, only the leaves and vines are bad for chicken.

The same would apply for anything related.

 

[Vata Raven]

I plant clover and rye grass in the beds.

Do they eat the flower bud?

Sometimes I see them eat the flower bud, and other times I see them uproot clover without buds and eat it like pasta.

 

[DSill]

Hi, I have been thinking about making my hens a garden, I know what to plant in it but the question is can you make one that doesn’t take a long time? Mabye just sprout of something so they can get a grass like thing, for now so they have something little while the big garden is Growing

Your garden will last about 10 minutes! Chickens scratch and dig up everything. I tried to be nice and make their own little garden area with greens. After weeks of watering it and waiting, I took off the cover and they immediately destroyed it! What a waste of time!!