Getting lots of spring greens---anyone else eating their weeds?

[tdgill]

just had a chickweed and prickly lettuce salad. have many more to try though!

 

[Rock Home Isle]

My pullets are 5 weeks now...they have discovered Dandelions and they have discovered Lawn Clippings.

It is so funny to watch them tackle a Dandelion....

 

[chickkais67]

This is the first full week that I let my chicks out. They first discovered weeds growing in the rocks. I was very pleased with that. Today they discovered my hostas and other perenials. I am not so pleased with this!!! Anyone have suggestions on how to deter them from eating hostas, or daisies, or coneflowers etc...?

 

[mkiora]

Maybe you could try waiting until your perennials get a little bigger to give them free range. My flock isn't free ranging at this time, but last summer when they were roaming free they didn't eat my hostas. Rather, they would scratch for bugs under the hostas. Because they were undermining our fruit trees and I want to be able to walk barefoot and not step in chicken poop I decided to stop free ranging the flock. My alternative system is to keep them confined to their pen which is attached to their coop and move them out to a secondary run (movable fencing) during the day in nice weather. I give them our food scraps, weeds and other garden waste in their pen to mimic a free range diet as best I can. So we are still getting nutritious eggs but our landscape plants are not being destroyed. I do miss weeding the garden with Honey my Buff Orpington by my side. She would eat the bugs that I turned up as I pulled weeds. I think I may just bring her into the garden with me next time. I need my fluffy side kick.

 

[chickkais67]

My perennials are fairly large now. They started scratching beneath the hostas but graduated to pecking the crap out of them. Last year I put some animal repel ant on the hostas and wonder if it will work for the chickens. I didn't have the chicks last year. The repel ant is not a chemical its a very bad smelling concoction of putrid eggs garlic.... bought in a store. I wonder if this would be like a salad dressing for the chickens. I planned on penning them during the day to keep predators at bay and let them free range when I am home, but it was a full time job keeping them away from the perennials yesterday. I may do what mkiora did and make a movable fencing run for them. If anyone has further suggestions please post a reply.