Grass

[yakitori]

I’ve been feeding my chickens grass. Not the stuff from my lawn mower, I pick out the variety that I know they love to eat ( I believe it’s perennial rye) and chop it up to short little bits with scissors and supplementing their diet.

Been getting some really nice tasty yolks!

 

[RedwoodCoastChick]

Mine love chopped grass, too, along with fresh dandelions (a huge favorite) and sorrel leaves from the veg garden. They especially love when I dig up clumps of grassy weeds and dump them in their yard still attached to the root ball - easy for them to bite off bits of grass and then scratch through the roots for worms, bugs, etc. Food and toy combined! And yes, those wonderful dark yolks...

 

[Penpal]

The grass/rye has beta keratins. That is what makes the yolks so golden.

 

[gtaus]

I’ve been feeding my chickens grass. Not the stuff from my lawn mower,

I put the grass collection bins on my riding mower and dump all the grass clippings into the chicken run. The chickens eat some, and the rest turns into compost. I have been doing that for 4 years now and there has never been an issue.

Are you concerned about using the lawn mower to collect grass clippings? If so, what is your concern?

I agree that chickens eating grass clippings have a much darker colored yolk. I love it!

 

[yakitori]

I put the grass collection bins on my riding mower and dump all the grass clippings into the chicken run. The chickens eat some, and the rest turns into compost. I have been doing that for 4 years now and there has never been an issue.

Are you concerned about using the lawn mower to collect grass clippings? If so, what is your concern?

I agree that chickens eating grass clippings have a much darker colored yolk. I love it!

My lawn isn’t all one type of grass, I’m worried they may ingest something toxic like persicaria once the blade mulches it all up. From what I've read, they’re pretty good at knowing what they can and cannot eat when the grass is fresh and whole, but not as discerning once it’s all cut and blended.

edit: whoops it’s not persicaria, but some other plant that grows on my lawn, did the research a while back but my derp brain cant remember which plant/s was deemed unsafe

edit 2: i think it was some kind of vetch…

 

[gtaus]

My lawn isn’t all one type of grass, I’m worried they may ingest something toxic like persicaria once the blade mulches it all up.

Well, I guess I've never bothered to find out if anything growing in my yard is toxic to chickens. I live out in the country, and my lawn is anything that grows. Having said that, if there was a bad plant or two in the yard, and it got mulched up into the collection bins, I don't think the chickens would eat enough of it to get them sick.

If you have a plant that is toxic to your chickens, I guess I would try to eradicate that plant from the lawn, if possible. But unless you have a lot of that toxic plant, it might not make any difference in the bigger mix.