Feeding your chickens from your garden

[MikeTheGardener]

Am I the only one that grows extra produce in my garden to feed to my chickens? Or is that a universal chicken keeper/gardener thing?

 

[jesubis]

I give my girls a 5-gallon bucket full of weeds (mostly dandelions, and some mint since we have a mint infestation) every morning after I let them out and top off their waterers. They absolutely love it and it helps to keep feed costs down! That organic layer feed isn't cheap, even when we buy it in 50-lb bags from Costco. They also get kitchen scraps when we have them. I'm planning on planting some extra chard for them wherever I have room in the garden; that's another favorite of theirs. There is a big bare spot next to their pen that I scattered a bunch of extra seeds on - mostly bok choy, spinach, and some varieties of various things that didn't grow well last year. Better than throwing the seeds out, and more free chicken feed!

 

[Missbehaven]

I always grow extra squash they love eating them and the cherry tomatoes are against the gardens fence. The days I let them out its a race to the tomatoes.

 

[Den in Penn]

I wouldn't say universal, but common. I myself give them extras that I don't need, as well as indian corn or field corn for them.

 

[TheRambler]

I don't grow anything extra in my garden for them produce wise, but they do get produce scraps. However, i have "cultivated" an area of my yard to grow certain "weeds" for them. Amaranth and lambs quarter being the main ones, if you let them grow until they go to seed you can cut off the entire seed head and throw it to them, or knock the seed off into a bucket. You can get alot of seed from one plant. I filled a 3 gallon bucket with seed from one amaranth plant last year.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

I don't have enough garden space to use some for the chickens. But as others have mentioned they get any scraps I have as well as piles of weeds I pull, so far clover is their FAV. I feed it through the run wire and you have to be careful or you could lose a finger.

 

[KelsT]

When I weed can I just give them all of the weeds? or is there some that are bad for them..... i been giving them some clover and stuff but wasn't sure how much I could give them... like crab grass and such?

I am planting a garden but nothing for them yet they will get scraps.... I do plant on letting them clean and weed my garden for me between crops.

 

[glib]

Am I the only one that grows extra produce in my garden to feed to my chickens? Or is that a universal chicken keeper/gardener thing?

They just got a five gallon bucket of weeds, grown in the beds and in the paths between beds. It was virtually all top nutrition with mostly dandelion, grass, plantain, chicory, clover and chickweed. The cultivation of these outstanding veggies requires no input from me except harvesting. Regrettably I have a 12-month garden (3 months a year under hoop houses), so they are not allowed inside, else they could do the harvest for me. Eventually I will move to a paddock system, so they can weed each garden 2 months a year after I harvest my crops. They are far more sophisticated than me, I know that their dandelion is a better food than my eggplants.

 

[AnthonyFlock]

I'm so excited to finally have something to do with all the weeds other than bagging! Anyone notice which weeds chickens won't eat/love??

 

[KelsT]

They just got a five gallon bucket of weeds, grown in the beds and in the paths between beds. It was virtually all top nutrition with mostly dandelion, grass, plantain, chicory, clover and chickweed. The cultivation of these outstanding veggies requires no input from me except harvesting. Regrettably I have a 12-month garden (3 months a year under hoop houses), so they are not allowed inside, else they could do the harvest for me. Eventually I will move to a paddock system, so they can weed each garden 2 months a year after I harvest my crops. They are far more sophisticated than me, I know that their dandelion is a better food than my eggplants.

I'd love to see i pic of your garden area and the hoop houses I am thinking of doing something similar and letting the chickens in it to weed for me, between crops.