What Greens do chickens like?

[ArmelChix]

Hi again, I’m just wondering what fruit and veggies chickens like to eat. Mine are being a bit picky. We’ve given them lettuce, silver beet, spinach, carrots, cucumber, apple, broccolini and sweet corn and they don’t seem to want any of it. They are sometimes interested in the cucumber and occasionally peck at the spinach, but apart from that they don’t seem interested. We have, or had, a lot of greenery in the garden, but they’ve eaten most of it so we’re trying to supply them with extra. What other greens can we try?

Mine love love love turnip greens. Will eat dandelion greens also but crazy about turnip greens. I live in a hot arid location but was able to plant turnip roots in a well watered and partly shaded garden spot for fresh turnip greens,which lasted most of the growing season. Now that it's fall, I buy some at grocery stores occasionally, organic of course, tho it is more expensive. It's definitely one of their fav treats.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I'm a bit late I guess, but I've just joined and would like to help I buy frozen mixed veggies that has green beans in there and they love that, also peas. You can thaw them first, or if it's hot it's a cool treat

i think I’ll start offering frozen veggies thawed out this winter. i now buy coleslaw by the bag and chop it all up. They like the purple cabbage bits and not a fan of carrots at all. They love broccoli hung in the run. Chickens wont eat the broccoli if I toss it in the run. I also grow Kale and prop it up or hang it so its like eating it off the stalk. Hanging veggies is a great way to offer them. veggies stay clean and I can easily recognize consumption. I also have large serving serving spoons like for soup hung up on hardware cloth in the run to put any food that I’d rather not have on the ground. The stainless spoons are very easy to clean as well. I actually have 5 different feeding stations for 5 hens. I like to make sure every hen gets her fair share without getting bullied.

 

[Sherrirod]

i think I’ll start offering frozen veggies thawed out this winter. i now buy coleslaw by the bag and chop it all up. They like the purple cabbage bits and not a fan of carrots at all. They love broccoli hung in the run. Chickens wont eat the broccoli if I toss it in the run. I also grow Kale and prop it up or hang it so its like eating it off the stalk. Hanging veggies is a great way to offer them. veggies stay clean and I can easily recognize consumption. I also have large serving serving spoons like for soup hung up on hardware cloth in the run to put any food that I’d rather not have on the ground. The stainless spoons are very easy to clean as well. I actually have 5 different feeding stations for 5 hens. I like to make sure every hen gets her fair share without getting bullied.

Do you have a pic of the spoons? That would be helpful, but I can't picture how to hand them in my head.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Do you have a pic of the spoons? That would be helpful, but I can't picture how to hand them in my head.

i use zip ties to hang from the hardware cloth

 

[Sherrirod]

i use zip ties to hang from the hardware cloth View attachment 3974247

LOL!!! I was thinking large tablespoon, not ladle. Too funny, I'm an idiot! Thank you so much. That is a fantastic idea! I will be doing that this week. That will work perfectly for me.

 

[HowIsItDone]

Hi again, I’m just wondering what fruit and veggies chickens like to eat. Mine are being a bit picky. We’ve given them lettuce, silver beet, spinach, carrots, cucumber, apple, broccolini and sweet corn and they don’t seem to want any of it. They are sometimes interested in the cucumber and occasionally peck at the spinach, but apart from that they don’t seem interested. We have, or had, a lot of greenery in the garden, but they’ve eaten most of it so we’re trying to supply them with extra. What other greens can we try?

My chickens enjoy some of those things, and really love squash, but I haven't given them access to free range outside of their run.

Are you offering these to them while they range?
Maybe the garden tastes better, and has more bugs?

Where are you? Do you get winter?

 

[HowIsItDone]

We cut it into tiny cubes for them to eat.

Old timers here have told me that it's better to just cut stuff in half, or even leave it whole, and let them take the bite size they want.

I've given them full heads of lettuce, whole apples, and this fall, a whole pumpkin.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

LOL!!! I was thinking large tablespoon, not ladle. Too funny, I'm an idiot! Thank you so much. That is a fantastic idea! I will be doing that this week. That will work perfectly for me.

Yea, its like why not? My thinking is this.(i have 5 hens in that coop), why not have 5 feeding stations? Takes up no chicken ground real estate, everyone gets a chance at all the different ingredients, less chance of bulling, and a fixed location to put a lesser amount of say, a mash, or even the oyster shells, veggies. Anything with moisture goes in the ladle! It keeps the moist foods off the ground and ladle easy to clean. I can also monitor how much is being consumed. My second coop with 2 hens has 2 ladles as well. Yea, my hens are very possessive of the feeders. I envy flocks eating from the same bowl. Mine would never. Well Rosie lets Coppertop share, but you know what I mean, lol

 

[Altairsky]

I just caught one of my hens gobbling down stramonium like if it was candy. I kicked her from that plant and she started to gobble down the next.
I've been raising stramonium plants for years to make vole poison, so the chickens probably ate them already in the past with no consequences. I guess she's gonna lay funny eggs tomorrow *shrugs*

 

[BackyardinWales]

Hi again, I’m just wondering what fruit and veggies chickens like to eat. Mine are being a bit picky. We’ve given them lettuce, silver beet, spinach, carrots, cucumber, apple, broccolini and sweet corn and they don’t seem to want any of it. They are sometimes interested in the cucumber and occasionally peck at the spinach, but apart from that they don’t seem interested. We have, or had, a lot of greenery in the garden, but they’ve eaten most of it so we’re trying to supply them with extra. What other greens can we try?

My girls get kale, cabbage, and carrot daily for breakfast, and if I have things in, cauliflower and broccoli. They also very occasionally get corn on the cob. Most of the veggies I chop fine in the food processor (yes they're spoiled) and the carrots get grated so it's like they're getting worms. (They do get mealworms as well. Like I said, spoiled)

I have on occasion thrown in more 'normal unchopped' veggies, and they look at me like "what do you call this?"

I've also learned I can give them spider plants to 'prune' lol