Orange yolks

[rosemarythyme]

I read somewhere that grass was good for chickens as they don't have a stomach like cows to eat grass. Sorry, I am gullible and believe everything I read on the internet...

The chickens themselves don't really prefer lawn grass. The bugs living in grass, absolutely. But most lawn type grass doesn't seem too tasty to them (grass that's gone to seed, they love - and mine seem to like weedy grasses with broader blades). Mine nibble on dried lawn clippings in the run simply because it's available, but they don't gorge on it.

 

[Baumshell28]

I’m new to chickens & mine haven’t gotten to POL yet, but I’ve gotten much valuable advice from the experts here. I planted an herb garden all along the front of my chicken run that includes marigolds (every other plant) that my girls can peck at thru the fencing but not scratch out of the ground. My moms neighbor gave me advice that I’ll try after the girls begin laying...she says that adding crawfish shells to her chickens feed darkens their yolks to very near red. I live in Louisiana, so getting crawfish shells is like asking your neighbor if you can take their garbage out yourself...very easy right now, lol!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Can’t speak from experience on effect of crawfish shells on yolk color, but I imagine they’ll add some nice calcium and may a bit of protein!

 

[Buckeye Amy]

I’m new to chickens & mine haven’t gotten to POL yet, but I’ve gotten much valuable advice from the experts here. I planted an herb garden all along the front of my chicken run that includes marigolds (every other plant) that my girls can peck at thru the fencing but not scratch out of the ground. My moms neighbor gave me advice that I’ll try after the girls begin laying...she says that adding crawfish shells to her chickens feed darkens their yolks to very near red. I live in Louisiana, so getting crawfish shells is like asking your neighbor if you can take their garbage out yourself...very easy right now, lol!

The marigold idea sounds great! I've been planning on doing something similar. Also, I toss shrimp shells into the run and they gobble them up like potato chips. Nice and crunchy!

 

[tralfaz]

LOL. I tried making a chicken garden in the chicken yard. A couple of plants didn't make it long enough for me to get the netting around it. I now have only a cantaloupe left in there. I will cover it until the vines get big enough for them to sit in. If it makes cantaloupe, they can have it. I do have an extra watermelon I planted in the people garden just for them- any watermelons from that one plant will go to the chickens- I also have a squash and cherry tomato in the people garden for them. Maybe next year I will plant carrots for the greens and cover them quickly. I know the dill plants didn't last 5 minutes.

That's an idea we have a surplus of pumpkin plants

 

[oldhen2345]

That's an idea we have a surplus of pumpkin plants

I feed my hens pumpkin every fall- usually after Halloween. I understand that the seeds make an excellent dewormer.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I feed my hens pumpkin every fall- usually after Halloween. I understand that the seeds make an excellent dewormer.

I can’t speak to the deworming properties (I’ve heard both yes and no), but I feed pumpkin and squash when they’re in season and they help orange up the eggs yolks too!