What do you grow to feed the chickens??

[Arielle]

I know I'm replying to an old post but..... I also planted some winter rye in the one huge bed we have for the chickens. I've never grown it before. I understand that it will survive the winter and start growing in the spring. Do you let it go to seed and feed that to the chickens, or do you feed grass and all to them?
Thanks

LEt see if I understand your question-- if you see winter rye now will it over winter???

IF the birds don't eat all the seeds, or eat down all the new shoots, then yes, it is meant to improve the nutrients of the soil, then till it in in the spring for more green compost if used in a garden. LEt us know how it works out!!

 

[Arielle]

-not certain about the winter rye, but we sow Elbon rye seed in the back lawn late in the fall. When the shoots emerge, the chickens begin to forage. They love the green shoots in the winter when not much else grows. (I keep the hens off of the seeds for a few days to allow them time to root.)

To add to the above, some people put down screens madeof rat wire. THe birds can scratch but not dig up and eat the root, and it leaves some of the shoot as well. ALlows the plant to keep growing.

 

[Noobiechickluv]

Thanks for the quick reply.
I guess I didn't phrase my question right. I plan to let it go til spring, cut it down and turn the rest over for use as green manure.
My question is.... the part I cut down (most of it) will be grass-like and I plan to give it to the chickens. But when do I cut it? Do I let it go to seed? Isn't that the part that is nutritious for the chickens?

 

[Arielle]

Thanks for the quick reply.
I guess I didn't phrase my question right. I plan to let it go til spring, cut it down and turn the rest over for use as green manure.
My question is.... the part I cut down (most of it) will be grass-like and I plan to give it to the chickens. But when do I cut it? Do I let it go to seed? Isn't that the part that is nutritious for the chickens?

I have not done this, so I ccan only speculate.

As it is termed green amnure I expect that the stems may still be green. And that is traditionally tilled into the ground. IT is used as a ground cover to prevent erosian of the soil over the winter and prevent the soil from run off during the spring thaws. IT is not intended that it should be grown to harvest the seeds.

I'm not familiar enough with this plant to know if you can run it thru a lawn mower to chop it to bits small enough for the chickens to utilize. I just don't know. My gut feeling is the particles will be a bit too big and much will be wasted-- which is better than all of it wasted. Perhapps keep all the material over the one area , run the mower, let the chickens pick thru it, then till under. THis is all conjecture-- I"ve not done it.

 

[Noobiechickluv]

That was my thought.... chopping it small. I was trying to figure out when and how it goes to seed. I want to plant corn in that area. My understanding is that it has some anti-weed properties, so you have to till it and wait 3 weeks before you plant. So, if I let it go to seed, I may not have time to put in another crop.

I guess we'll see. Everything I know about gardening came from trial & error anyway

 

[Arielle]

Trial and error is a very basic learning tool-- starts when we learn how to walk!!

I don'tthink the green manure principle includes gioing to seed. How much corn will you get vs leaving the first crop until it goes to seed??? I saw a few very short seasoned corn at Sand HIll PReservation. Seems the shorter the corns stalk the faster the ears are available.

Very curious to see how this works out.

 

[Noobiechickluv]

Good question! I'm a city girl living in the country. Gardening and chickens are both new to me. Not to mention the climate difference. I'm from New Orleans. I'm living in the foothills of NC, so I don't have the best grasp on the length of the growing season yet. We put in just a small amount of corn this year in late April/early May, and were able to harvest it in August, so I think I have plenty of time. I just went to the seed store and asked the old timers what they liked. I guess I could look into the short-stalked varieties. Good idea, thanks!

Believe it or not, I did do a bit of research, but I read conflicting things. I guess I just assumed it was the seed people grew rye for (besides the cover crop). You know what they say about assuming....

The big bed we planted the rye in is about 5x20 0r 25. We had kale & collards that grew in the snow straight through the winter, so I filled up all the other beds with that. My chickens seem to really like the kale, so what we don't eat, we can throw to them, but I really would like to get to a point where I am growing a lot more of their food. It just seems kinda silly that we are spending 10 times more on chicken feed than we ever did on eggs.

Not that I care that much, I am in love with my silly little flock. We spend a lot of time just watching and laughing at them. Chicken TV!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Hola fellow gardeners!

Good plants to grow for chickens our: zucchini, squash, and pumpkins. They grow abundantly to were you have enough for you and your chickens. Chickens love eating the seeds of those plants. Just about every day now, we've been feeding some kind of produce from our garden to our chickens, lol.

 

[Arielle]

My chickens are working on hollowing out a few right on the vine!! and I break up large ones for the larger groups of birds. THEy go wild .


Kale--an all season plant so far for me. IT was shrouded by tall weeds thru the heat of the summer, and is doing fine now that it is cooler.

Tomatos-- chickens stole everything within reach, leaving only the fruit 3 feet and higher.

5x25 is about enough for a family, not sure it's enough to feed all the birds too. At least not the way that I garden! lol Some folks can get a lot of crops of a small plot-- I haven't learned the nack f doing that.

 

[Noobiechickluv]

We have a terrible squash bug problem here, so we aren't getting the squash and zucchini like we used to....
Here's a shot of that rye bed (See that beautiful broccoli to the left?)