feeding from your garden?

[Dixiedoodle]

I know I have read about others feeding their chickens extra/large -pumpkins, squash, cukes. I know you can feed them tomatoes, beans, peas, corn and watermelons.. How about okra, rutabagas, turnips and radishes?? Thanks Dixie

 

[Yogiman]

My flock of 27 hens, mostly BO's completely destroyed a turnip patch and a rutabaga patch for me. Not to mention a 75 ft. row of collards, two rows of rape greens, and all of the cabbage. Talk about some pigglets! I had no idea that they would eat turnips an rutabagas.
You would not believe the color of the egg yolks now. Orange! And I do mean orange.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

If I chop up the pods mine will eat okra, but not otherwise. They will scratch small plants out of the ground though.

Rutabagas mine ate preferentially over my other greens to the point I lost the row when two hens flew the fence and got into the garden. They'll eat the greens of just about any root vegetable and mine ate the turnip roots as well. They also like pea and bean leaves and of course ripe tomatoes.

.....Alan.

 

[greyfields]

Quote:
I think everything on your list is safe for for chickens. Of course, they cannot break into pumpkins and turnips very well on their own. So you ought break them up with an axe or sledgehammer. Among the things on that list, though, I bet they like hte peas and beans best. When I take my pea vines down, I always cart them to the chicken area and they 'hunt' in the pile for peas for weeks.

I also have pigs. So, most the garden waste goes to them. But you bet the chickens are right there with them eating the stuff too small or not noticed by the piggies (especially seeds).