Ornamental Feed

[JedJackson]

If you don't already have it, Baker's Heirloom seed catalogue has all kinds of unusual seeds for edible plants that might be good for chickens. https://www.rareseeds.com/

I think peas are an especially good thing to grow for chickens as they have higher protein content and aren't fatty like sunflower seeds.

Unless you want to deal with a thug, I would avoid mint.

Best of luck!

 

[Brooks_]

Hot peppers. Birds don't have the receptor.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

If you don't already have it, Baker's Heirloom seed catalogue has all kinds of unusual seeds for edible plants that might be good for chickens. https://www.rareseeds.com/

I think peas are an especially good thing to grow for chickens as they have higher protein content and aren't fatty like sunflower seeds.

Unless you want to deal with a thug, I would avoid mint.

Best of luck!

a thug??? Please explain. I've had decent luck with mint (also, Mojitos!), sadly no luck with winter peas, though I try every year.

 

[HausOfEggwards]

Its very low growing, but give mint some consideration - and it comes back year after year.

Any of the millets, or sorghum, which looks just like it.
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Flax has tiny blue flowers and does well.
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Amaranth
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Peas (winter / Austrian)
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Nasturtiums (not good for storage, i admit - but quick growing nice splash of color). Marigolds, too. Creeping Thyme. Vinca Minor (Periwinckle)


View attachment 2676547

This is amazing 10/10 wow. I've been wanting to grow nasturtiums for awhile because they're a great companion plant, but I was like will I even eat those? So boom perfect. Thank you!!!

 

[HausOfEggwards]

If you don't already have it, Baker's Heirloom seed catalogue has all kinds of unusual seeds for edible plants that might be good for chickens. https://www.rareseeds.com/

I think peas are an especially good thing to grow for chickens as they have higher protein content and aren't fatty like sunflower seeds.

Unless you want to deal with a thug, I would avoid mint.

Best of luck!

HA! I've made the mint mistake before and now I will only let it live in containers. Ty for the link!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

This is amazing 10/10 wow. I've been wanting to grow nasturtiums for awhile because they're a great companion plant, but I was like will I even eat those? So boom perfect. Thank you!!!

Happy to help - I have acres, a tight budget, and no heavy equipment (unless you count the weight of my hand tools as I cart them across the property)

After a few were cleared, I started scattering anything I could find to see what might grow here with minimal care on my part. Most of those things are either in my pasture now, or have been attempted and determined to be unsuitable for my climate and soils. The rest are on order - and of course, do watch your planting seasons - an early summer or late frost can play havok that first year and keep things from going to seed, setting efforts back a year in time and funding.

My first year, we received no rainfall for 27 days in a row, right after I seeded two acres. It was a month we average 6". Weather, you know?

 

[Brooks_]

a thug??? Please explain

I think what is meant is that in the right conditions it will spread and spread. I can't keep it alive.

 

[JedJackson]

I think what is meant is that in the right conditions it will spread and spread. I can't keep it alive.

Every mint I've ever tried here in the PNW has spread like wildfire. It can be grown in containers but must be potted fresh each year or it peters out. Feast or famine.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I think what is meant is that in the right conditions it will spread and spread. I can't keep it alive.

Yes, it gets punished in the wrong conditions, but its ability to overwinter underground and come back from roots makes it good for standing up to chicken abuse. That said, I contain it by ensuring the wrong conditions surround it, and that it has lots of competition. There are no monocultures in my pasture.

 

[JedJackson]

Another thing to mention is to not feed chickens sweet pea seeds from the ornamental flower. These are poisonous. It must be edible peas, the same that we eat.