Greens for Chickens

[Chickie YumYum]

What should I look for in my yard to find greens my chickens will like. I have no idea but I'll seed a small patch of what types they really like

 

[Debbie292d]

Mine love kale. I think most chickens do and it's very good for them.

If you plant it, be sure to fence it or they'll eat it as soon as it sprouts. Been there, done that!

 

[21hens-incharge]

They like a lot of different things.

Kale, swiss chard, green leaf lettuce, spinach, turnip tops (one called seven top doesn't grow the bug roots), and cabbage. Most of those grow pretty fast but don't do well in high heat.

Spinach and swiss chard can interfere with calcium absorption if they eat a lot.

They also like clover and alfalfa.

 

[Loving my girls]

My hens got into my veggie garden one year and took my 2ft purple sprouting broccoli down to nothing but stems.

 

[SueT]

All of the above, but they will also eat weeds. Mine love chickweed, but after it blooms in early summer, there's none left so it's gone here. Chickweed is prolific in the spring and you can pull it up by the handful. They like one called henbit, and dandelions, and clover as well. Try the weed called plantain and see what they think. They'll like the seeds of that as well.


And below is plantain weed

 

[AntiqueB]

Mine enjoy cover crops (peas, alfalfa, barley, wheat), but I also found out this year that they really like corn leaves! Beyond that, I plant chard, lettuce, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes for them.

 

[Loving my girls]

Mine enjoy cover crops (peas, alfalfa, barley, wheat), but I also found out this year that they really like corn leaves! Beyond that, I plant chard, lettuce, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes for them.

Cherry Tomatoes

 

[Perris]

You could let them out and watch what they like to eat amongst what is already growing in your yard. Weeds grow without any cost or effort on your part, are often highly nutritious, and if the chickens eat them it saves you the job of weeding - what's not to like?!

To give you an idea, here are some I have identified that my flock eats, sometimes the leaves, sometimes the berries, the flowers, the seeds, the shoots: alchemilla mollis, annual meadow grass, brambles, buttercups, cephaleria, chickweed, clover, cock's foot, comfrey, cornus, cotoneaster... they are partial to many grass flowers at this time of year. Pollen is a surprisingly good source of protein.

 

[SueT]

Just dug this plantain weed out of the garden and 'planted' it in the run. They'll make short work of it....

 

[Loving my girls]

Just dug this plantain weed out of the garden and 'planted' it in the run. They'll make short work of it....
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What lovely looking girls, you can tell they are spoilt, sorry I meant well looked after