Greens for chickens??

[Ron]

They CHARGED you to take the scraps? Gee! I am able to garden all year long and give them all the kitchen scraps from kale, cabbage, beets, carrots and lettuce and they love it. However, I have never been able to get them interested in water-softened alfalfa blocks. Maybe they are just not hungry. Anybody else have chickens who won't eat the softened blocks?

 

[BayCityBabe]

I fed grass clippings and other garden scraps all summer, squash and pumpkin in the fall... Now it's slim pickings. They are happy with tomato tops & bottoms, Romaine cores and cantelope rinds.

 

[vfem]

I bring them scraps of everything from the house basically. Instead of throwing away outer layers of cabbage, lettuce or peelings from carrots, cucumbers, or celery tops I give them all to the chickens. They also get uneaten peas, stringbeans, cooked beans or corn. They get everything we don't eat.... nothing goes to waste... and I think they get plenty of supplimented greens even in winter. They just have to fight the ducks for leftovers now!

 

[banter]

Quote:
Me too! I also give thawed frozen green peas, and that's EVERYONE'S favorite including the ducks and geese!

 

[truechick]

I bought some peas for my girls you would have thought it was poison!
They aren't usually picky. Maybe they wanted them cooked?

 

[dancingbear]

Chickens will often ignore unfamiliar foods, but if you keep tossing them just a small amount daily, a few will start pecking at it, and before you know it, they're all going nuts over it. Unless it's something that they just plain dislike, like onions.

I gave mine alfalfa pellets one winter, and they loved them after they got used to them. They made the egg yolks nice and orange.

 

[#1California Chick]

My local veg market told me today that they would give me BOXES of the cuttings of the outer leaves from cabbage, lettuce etc. I WILL RETURN!!!

Cindy

 

[BawkinOnTheBench]

Quote:
Yes, I let them thaw out on the counter, or put them in water if I'm in a hurry.

 

[crazyhen]

I baked pumpkins last fall and froze them in slices. Also peas that were too large etc. They love it all. I planted greens they enjoyed till winter stopped their growth. I think next year I will also plant Kale for them. They love it all. When i clean out my freezer of old beans or peas that have been blanched and frozen they get those too. Jean

 

[thedeacon]

I have apple trees and a good sized garden. I stored 5 buckets of apples in the shed. They are frozen now, however I throw a few to the chicks and peacocks and they get picked over pretty good. Doesn;t seem to matter they are frozed. I do the same with the extra squash and pumpkins. chicks don't like the pumpkin but peacocks do. All growing season long they get plenty of fresh cucumbers and squash and anything else that is surplus or over ripe like green beans. I also provide 24 /7 laying pellets .