As an organic gardener and an avid local (fresh) food fan, I feed my chickens lots of different fresh foods -- all in their proper season, of course.
Some of the things my chooks eat in season include:
Fresh grass clippings and garden weeds of many different varieties, less than perfect quality lettuce leaves, the left over leaves from cabbage and broccoli plants after I harvest the heads for my family, the "lesser quality" strawberries from my garden, less than perfect watermelon, less than perfect cantaloupe, less than perfect squash and zucchini (also too huge zucchini), less than perfect peaches from the peach trees, less than perfect quality organic tomatoes, less than perfect miscellaneous other berries (blueberries, blackberries and red raspberries), chopped boiled eggs and raw milk.
With the exception of the raw milk and the blackberries -- which we get from a farmer friend -- everything else I listed, we grow here in our own suburban back yard.
In addition, we feed the chickens alfalfa (which we are forced to purchase) and wheat sprouts (from wheat berries we purchase at Whole Foods) during the winter.
Chickens will eat just about anything that comes out of the garden -- except for tomato, potato or eggplant leaves -- and they really do not mind if the fruits are not absolutely perfect in every way.
Just don't give them fresh grass clippings or weeds if you use a chemical fertilizer or other chemical treatments on your lawn, because they do not need to ingest that poison.
Some of the things my chooks eat in season include:
Fresh grass clippings and garden weeds of many different varieties, less than perfect quality lettuce leaves, the left over leaves from cabbage and broccoli plants after I harvest the heads for my family, the "lesser quality" strawberries from my garden, less than perfect watermelon, less than perfect cantaloupe, less than perfect squash and zucchini (also too huge zucchini), less than perfect peaches from the peach trees, less than perfect quality organic tomatoes, less than perfect miscellaneous other berries (blueberries, blackberries and red raspberries), chopped boiled eggs and raw milk.
With the exception of the raw milk and the blackberries -- which we get from a farmer friend -- everything else I listed, we grow here in our own suburban back yard.
In addition, we feed the chickens alfalfa (which we are forced to purchase) and wheat sprouts (from wheat berries we purchase at Whole Foods) during the winter.
Chickens will eat just about anything that comes out of the garden -- except for tomato, potato or eggplant leaves -- and they really do not mind if the fruits are not absolutely perfect in every way.
Just don't give them fresh grass clippings or weeds if you use a chemical fertilizer or other chemical treatments on your lawn, because they do not need to ingest that poison.
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