What would you put in your garden for poultry?

[Sally PB]

A question for anybody willing to answer: what's the best (most prolific, heat and frost hardy, and nutritional) plant/s for grazing frames in the run?

I'd like to know that too! Not like we want it all, though, huh?

 

[dirkandlorie]

Thanks for the reply, what amazing plants you have. Even though you dont see them eat the plants, they still have beneficial properties. Like when it rains for example, and the chickens drink the rainwater off the leaves or small puddles that contains dried leaves, they are actually drinking tea. I try to keep little water dishes around places where beneficial leaves soak after the rain.

What a thoughtful chicken owner you are! May I ask if you see an increase of mosquitos with dishes of water laying around? We have such a terrible time with mosquitos with our heat and humidity, that's why I ask.

 

[Happy hen lover]

I grow winter wheat in grazing frames.
My plan next year I plan on increasing my beet crop. My hens love the greens. We live them root.

Ah, this thread popped back up. Yeah! Thanks @NatJ for posting today and breathing some life back into this one just as I start my garden planning.

A question for anybody willing to answer: what's the best (most prolific, heat and frost hardy, and nutritional) plant/s for grazing frames in the run?

 

[Sammster]

I'm currently sharing my aerogarden salad greens with my girls. They love them

 

[BReeder!]

I'm prepping a 2 ft wide border bed asking the garden and duck run fence. It's 60+ ft long with the garden gate and arbor roughly in the middle and the duck run gate at the right end. This past season all I did was last down landscape fabric covered with logs/firewood. I'm going this kills the grass by Spring. I'm going to turn the soil then and put in a border, which will be either plastic edging, landscape timbers or metal edging.

Anyway, I'm going to plant this bed (really 2 beds because the garden gate/arbor divides them) with flowers and herbs. I'm keeping the chickens and ducks in mind as well as the humans. I want perennials - true perennials, but just self seeders. I don't mind a few annuals, but I might bury pots dedicated to the annuals so it's easy to pull them out and replant new ones. I'm not a flower gardener. Until last season, I didn't bother growing flowers for the garden at all. The only flowers I have planted are tulips, daffodils and day lilies; all of which are in front of the house. I want something more garden like in the back. So far I'm thinking thyme and lavender along with daisies possibly. I need help though. I'm zone 5 btw.

 

[Rangergord]

Yes cannabis is a funny one but I wonder if a chicken might nibble on the leaves a little? I google searched and there are farmers that swear by it as excellent feed. I believe it, although that part of the list is plants that have aromatic properties. The list of plants also includes fermented grapes (wine), hops (beer), aguave (tequila), tobacco. So a cigar smoking, tequila drinking chicken is healthiest.

I keep trying to feed my chickens cannabis leaves but they refuse to touch them. They do love the seeds though.

 

[Silexian]

I don’t plant a garden for my poultry. They do get quite the smorgasbord from the gardens, orchard and berries that we grow for us.

 

[Sally PB]

I'm prepping a 2 ft wide border bed

How about sunflowers?

 

[BReeder!]

How about sunflowers?

Maybe the smaller varieties. I had mammoth sunflowers last year in the garden. I had to carefully think about where to plant them because they cast such a big shadow that can shade other plants. There are plenty of smaller varieties to choose from though that are perennial in the area.