Home-Grown Chicken Feed Supplements

[Coop deGrace]

This year I grew a few pumpkins and some turnips as supplemental feed for the chickens and rabbits. They have enjoyed both but the turnips especially have been enjoyed, both the roots and greens. They also enjoyed some cucumbers I grew this summer that turned out to be for pickling and thus were too bitter to eat fresh - I let them ripen fully and then refrigerated them and fed them out to the critters as treats on very hot days. Now I am thinking about what to plant for next year and wondering if anyone has grown anything specifically for their chickens/rabbits. I'm more looking for things like roots, squashes, etc. as there is plenty of wild greenstuffs to gather so no need to plant any of that. Thinking of planting some white beets and mangels.

 

[Melky]

Mine loved pumpkin squash or sugar baby watermelons in addition to the traditional mixed greens and herbs. Easy to grow.

 

[Coop deGrace]

Mine loved pumpkin squash or sugar baby watermelons in addition to the traditional mixed greens and herbs. Easy to grow.

If I managed to grow any watermelons I can guarantee you the chickens wouldn't be getting near them x'D

 

[Melky]

If I managed to grow any watermelons I can guarantee you the chickens wouldn't be getting near them x'D

I sometimes leave a little on the rind and we cube off rest. That’s plenty for them or grow enough for both. I don’t mind sharing a fresh piece or two. I love these. It makes it feel like summer.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I would grow what you and your family enjoy eating, and share the excess and scraps with the animals. No real need to grow something specifically for them. Many chickens do enjoy different squashes, and mine especially like carrot greens, which most people toss out.

Wish my chickens would eat turnips, I always end up with an abundance of them and they won't touch them.

 

[Melky]

I would grow what you and your family enjoy eating, and share the excess and scraps with the animals. No real need to grow something specifically for them. Many chickens do enjoy different squashes, and mine especially like carrot greens, which most people toss out.

Wish my chickens would eat turnips, I always end up with an abundance of them and they won't touch them.

Mine enjoy the greens more than the vegetable. I too share my carrot tops with them. Love it!

 

[Sally PB]

I'm growing for both of my families: Hubby and chickens. I don't care for beets, but the chickens seem to like them. We all love butternut squash, so that's for all of us. I might grow a watermelon vine again, that was a huge favorite with the birds. They love some of the weeds that grow abundantly, so they help with that. I make them share the lamb's quarter with me.

Wish my chickens would eat turnips, I always end up with an abundance of them and they won't touch them.

Just a thought... did you try cooking them? My chickens didn't care for the mangels (beets) raw, but they gobbled them up when I cooked them.

 

[Coop deGrace]

I would grow what you and your family enjoy eating, and share the excess and scraps with the animals. No real need to grow something specifically for them. Many chickens do enjoy different squashes, and mine especially like carrot greens, which most people toss out.

Wish my chickens would eat turnips, I always end up with an abundance of them and they won't touch them.

There's just one of me, and I don't eat things like turnip and squash so there are no scraps for them lol. I don't really produce much in the way of kitchen scraps, which is why I grow things specifically for them.

 

[Coop deGrace]

I would grow what you and your family enjoy eating, and share the excess and scraps with the animals. No real need to grow something specifically for them. Many chickens do enjoy different squashes, and mine especially like carrot greens, which most people toss out.

Wish my chickens would eat turnips, I always end up with an abundance of them and they won't touch them.

These are smaller, less mature turnips and I feed them fresh out of the ground so they are probably more tender than the kind that are fully mature and cured for winter storage. I think if I had extra large winter turnips I'd probably boil them up in a pot before feeding, as they might be too tough for the birds otherwise. My rabbits would eat them happily, though!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Just a thought... did you try cooking them? My chickens didn't care for the mangels (beets) raw, but they gobbled them up when I cooked them.

Nope, never occurred to me to cook for the chickens I do know that turnips are considered good forage for animals, so was hoping the chickens would at least eat mature greens, but they really don't like them much. And I don't end up with too many baby greens since that's the part that I want to eat.

Hubby and I have literally eaten weeks of turnip side dishes, that's how much I end up with each season.

There's just one of me, and I don't eat things like turnip and squash so there are no scraps for them lol. I don't really produce much in the way of kitchen scraps, which is why I grow things specifically for them.

Gotcha. I'd still try to aim for a few things that you would eat (i.e. if you like tomatoes, all the imperfect ones can go to the chickens) but as far as things grown specifically for chickens, well... strawberries would fit the bill for me. I have alpine strawberries as ground cover so we don't eat them, but the chickens love them.