new research debunks trad views on nutrition

[RoyalChick]

Mine eat some flowers but mainly not. They do love rose petals though. When I deadhead the roses I try to toss them for the chickens and they are popular. The other flower that is very popular is the small green flowers from the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera). There is always a scrum when those fall to the ground from the huge tree that towers over the Chicken Palace.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

There's a big drive to plant more red clover here because it's such an important source of food for the great yellow bumblebee, partly because of its protein content. Vetches too.

If you plant clover, I recommend from experience that you plant several varieties - they will bloom at different times, and prefer slightly different environments. My yellow clover, for instance, only does well where there is some vertical edge - 4x4 posts, fences, trees, large fallen logs, etc. Sunlight has something to do with it too - though I've not figured out what - the crimson clover on one side of the road blooms a week or two before the clover on the other, and north/south roads different than east/west