What to plant in the garden for the chickens?

Kansaseq

Prairie Wolf Farm Asylum
10 Years
Feb 12, 2009
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NE Kansas
I tried doing a search, but either I'm not very good at using it, or it 's not working well today. Anyway, what is best to grow for the chooks?
 
I have heard they love Swiss Chard.
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I've been wondering about this also. Can you dry swiss chard so they have something in the winter months? Anything else that can be dried and stored for winter?
 
swiss chard, kale, beets (I let them have the greens). Check for cold tolerant greens/varieties that you can start early and then have late crop that will tolerate first frosts....I gave kale and cabbage and spinach for greens during winter, had frozen a lot of berries and they got all the vegetable scraps as well. My friend gave me her scraps as well so we had a decent supply. For this winter I will try sprouting stuff though
 
I just removed a row of border bricks from the chicken yard, and filled the nice long "hole" with corn and sunflower seed and some good topsoil on top.

In a few months, I should have some nice free treats for the chickens, and hopefully a little more barrier for the neighbors(they like the chickens).

I also plan to plant some mustard greens and a few squashes, the chickens can have all the leftovers and trimming from those as well, but not free access.

I think the best thing I can plant is lotsa grass seed to keep the lawn up, they really love to eat it.
I have 2 big hens freeranging now, but the 40 babies are growing quickly and learning to forage.
I plan to keep 10-12 hens on 3200sqft of lawn, I want the lawn to keep up.
 
I'm planting 6 plants of Bocking #4 comfrey and a 20ft. row of stinging nettle. Comfrey is somewhat controversial, but it will only be a minor part of their diet and I'm not concerned. Stinging nettle is a great source of plant protein and nutrition and is perennial. The areas both of these things are going into are a nuisance to mow anyway, and I am all in favor of reducing lawn area. They will also get lots of garden weeds and leftovers. Last year I grew cabbage for winter feeding and that worked out well, but I'm waiting to see how much room I have after the important vegetables before committing to it this year.
 

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