From the Garden

[rkpollard]

This is my first adventure with chickens and ducks. I have 15 hens and 5 roosters (barred rocks) and 6 white pekin ducks. What kinds of veggies can I give my flock? The chicks are 8 weeks old and are on full feed, but I'd like to give them extras from the garden. We have tomatoes, bell peppers, broccoli, brussel sprouts, bean, zucchini, squash, sunflowers, pumpkins and corn. And how about the ducks?

 

[ruffledfeathers1234]

your chickens can eat everything on that list. We give ours all of our vegeatable scraps except onions.

 

[hopp2it]

I'm not all that experienced with chickens yet, but I use mine as a live compost bin. Nearly all the scraps go in their pen than in the actual compost bin.

 

[akovia]

I'm not all that experienced with chickens yet, but I use mine as a live compost bin. Nearly all the scraps go in their pen than in the actual compost bin.

x2 on the live compost bin

My five ladies do a wonderful job and keep up with most garden culls and kitchen scraps. I do avoid putting meat in there because it attracts 'coons and other vermin.

 

[terryg]

I have two compost bins. One is in the chicken run and gets all of the garden waste and kitchen scraps. It keeps the hens busy, while at the same time keeps the pen tidy. The other compost is where I put the bulk of their manure. This is outside of where the chickens area and so it helps to break any parasite lifecycle. What I do is ideal for the urban/suburban hen keeper. I have photos/info on this system here:
http://hencam.com/faq/chicken-manure-management/
http://hencam.com/faq/compost-in-the-chicken-run/