What do you grow to feed the chickens??

[Arielle]

BO are sweet !! I have 2 roosters that will not be going into the soup pot. THey are pretty. ANd very low on the pecking order. ANd I have a couple girls to go with them, too.

DH and I just discussed cutting down more trees-- the garden area needs MORE sunlight. A bit too shady to get good production given the short season this year.

 

[lazy gardener]

Arielle: I put the electric fence around the whole garden in October with it opening to their coop, so they had direct access to the garden from that time on. They have a back door to the coop as well, so i could let them out to free range if i wanted to, but didn't b/c i wanted them to work the garden. There was also an 8 x 8' hoop green house in the garden that they love to hang out in. Dry soil, so, excellent dust bathing opportunity. When the ground froze in November, I took down the electronet, but put up some standard fencing that included 1/2 of the garden and the green house. I left that in place throughout the winter until i was able to let them free range again, and needed to plant the garden. Obviously with all of the snow, they didn't get much garden time, but when weather allowed, I'd shovel a bit of snow so they could get a bit of garden space, and I'd occasionally shovel a path to the green house. They also had the lower level of their coop which is 8 x 12, DL leaves and grass clippings, hay, and was covered with plastic to provide as much solar gain as possible. On all but the nasty below 0 days, it would get up to 50 degrees in the sun room at mid day. I had to knock the snow off it every time we got more than a couple of inches, so, I got plenty of exercise this winter.

 

[Arielle]

LOL chickens keep us busy!! All the litle things we do for them.

NIce set up for your chickens, a green house for a snow free area, a place to sunbath and to dust bath. Love multiuse areas.

 

[cwrite]

I have a couple of pawpaw (papaya) trees that grew in a tyre (I was experimenting with water conservation) & they landed up in the run when I built it. The chickens love the leaves, but as I love the fruit they may not get any of that. My grandmother had pawpaw trees & used to eat the seeds.

Then when I was at uni, one of the girls in my res did her thesis on the contraceptive effect of pawpaw seeds.

Maybe her mum told her to eat them. There wasn't much else available back in those days.

 

[Arielle]

I have a couple of pawpaw (papaya) trees that grew in a tyre (I was experimenting with water conservation) & they landed up in the run when I built it. The chickens love the leaves, but as I love the fruit they may not get any of that. My grandmother had pawpaw trees & used to eat the seeds.

Then when I was at uni, one of the girls in my res did her thesis on the contraceptive effect of pawpaw seeds.

Maybe her mum told her to eat them. There wasn't much else available back in those days.

Amazing that pawpaw seed is a contraceptive!! Love it!!!

Pawpaws are on my list to grow!! Just need to ready the space as they are tree like from what I understand.

I did get 8 , or was it 6?, kiwi plants in along a tall 6 foot picket fence. I dont know the exact varital, but it is the small smooth skinned type; not the hairy brown skin type. Fruit will be held up off the ground out of reach of the chickens. I've no experience with growing kiwi so praying it works as I love the fuzzy commercially grown ones.

 

[LindaB220]

This is supposed to be the best because it is super sweet zone 4-9 and fruits twice a year.

http://www.berriesunlimited.com/sou...season-3-years-old-in-1-gal-pot/prod_489.html

 

[Arielle]

This is supposed to be the best because it is super sweet zone 4-9 and fruits twice a year.

http://www.berriesunlimited.com/sou...season-3-years-old-in-1-gal-pot/prod_489.html

I saw this one-- the twice fruiting really caught my attention. Will keep an eye for for more review on this one!!

 

[cwrite]

The only thing that I have growing for my chooks at the moment are sunflowers & a few surviving nasturtiums. They devoured or trampled EVERYTHING!

Today was operation rescue plants. I don't have that many flowering plants because there are hedges just about the whole way around the property, but what there was that was still hanging in there has been dug up, potted up & moved into the pool area because the chooks are too fat to get through the pool fence. From now on I'm only growing plants for them in pots - somewhere they can't get to (possibly not in the pool area as I don't want to temp them to fly over the fence too much) & then the potted plant will be theirs until they have devoured it. And repeat. At least they can't get into my vegie patch & eat what I'm growing for me.

 

[Arielle]

Sorry they are such PIGS !

But they sure love their fresh vegies!!

 

[Highcotton]

Time to get planning on what to plant next season!!

DH had the chainsaw out today to clear more trees--- so I can plant more grasses etc. Just not sure what to plant . . . . lots of annual rye in all the mixes-- totally confusing . . .

I plan to plant some Kale and a mixture of crimson clover and rye, the grain. Those make good greens for them. I don't know about your climate but down here those thinhs grow best through the fall and winter.