How many greens do chickens need

[Chickassan]

Yeah! I totally forgot about "ugly"produce. If the stores have anything that's too ugly to sell they pitch it in a box and throw it away. Try to find the produce manager and ask about it, alot of times they are very nice and
will give you a ton of stuff.

 

[LittleRedFace]

I go to my local produce stand and get what they're going to trash. Last week I picked up two boxes of tomatoes destined for the dumpster. I was shocked at what they were tossing, I canned 10 qts and fed the rest to the girls.

It's really cool. I will definitely try it.

 

[Lauren T]

California is weird. In winter, there are greens everywhere, but in summer, plants are just withered. I have to buy greens for my chickens. If I just let them eat whenever they want, it would cost me about $30 per week. It is too much for me. I only can afford $6 per week for greens. $5 per week for fruits. But I worry if they don’t eat enough greens, they will get sick.

Please all, be wary of overfeeding your flock greens & 'treats'. Our neighbor was feeding out flock of 9 hens kale and other produce daily, then we were feeding them scraps from the garden and without knowing, doubling up on the greens to the point they weren't eating enough of their feed...as a result we've had 2 die. After the 2nd that just passed yesterday we finally figured it out.

 

[Chickassan]

That can't be the reason they died some chickens go all day without a speck of feed only forage. You might want to keep looking because something's amiss. Ok I looked it up they probably didn't die because of the amount of produce rather what the produce was. You said kale on a daily basis, kale has a butt ton of vitamin A and vitamin C which can cause severe issues in chickens.

Please all, be wary of overfeeding your flock greens & 'treats'. Our neighbor was feeding out flock of 9 hens kale and other produce daily, then we were feeding them scraps from the garden and without knowing, doubling up on the greens to the point they weren't eating enough of their feed...as a result we've had 2 die. After the 2nd that just passed yesterday we finally figured it out.

 

[lazy gardener]

Kale is also very high in Vitamin K which is an anticoagulant. All things in moderation. I have begged repeatedly for old produce. Pig farmers take it all, and the produce manager usually won't allow any one else to reap from the bounty. I caught a guy off guard this week, and he gave me 3 bags of stuff that was headed out back to be saved for the pig farmers. I guess I must have looked real needy! This is the first time in over 4 years that I've been given a single scrap. His comment, when he told me I could have it: we have so much stuff that the pig farmers won't even miss this." I brought home lots of stuff, some of which looked as good as what was on the shelves to be sold.