What to grow?

[2chicks poultry]

Hi everyone! As you all know the growing season is approaching once again and Im beginning to plan my garden. I like to grow things for my consumption but I also like to grow things for my chickens as well. I grow many things for them but Im always looking for more ideas on what to grow to make their diets more healthy, and Im sure you peeps on byc are too. So this is going to be a thread where people can post their experiences with growing food for their flocks. 1. make sure what you are suggesting is healthy and safe for chickens to consume. 2. when you post what you grow please tell why its healthy and how easy it is to grow etc. 3. and most importantly be kind!

happy posting and Im very excited to see what you all grow!

 

[Laver2k]

Hi there!

Chard
We grew quite a bit of chard last year from seeds a friend gave us. Turns out, we don't like chard. The chickens loved it though. It grew really big in a short space of time and was around for about 3 months. We just picked off piles of stems and leaves - they loved tearing them up.
From wiki - Swiss chard is high in vitamins A, K and C, with a 175 g serving containing 214%, 716%, and 53%, respectively, of the recommended daily value.[11] It is also rich in minerals, dietary fiber and protein.

Sunflowers
This year we are going to give sunflowers a try. The seeds are really high in protein so throwing in a sunflower head every couple of weeks when they start moulting in Autumn will probably be great for them!

Pumpkins
Take up a lot of space but the chickens go crazy for them. I cut them into 4 and steam them in the oven so they a bit softer and then the chickens obliterate them really quickly. Some say that the seeds are great natural wormers, but I dont think there is any science to support that.

We also tried sprouts but they were not very interested.


Hope that helps!