Winter "greens" question

[thechickenchick]

I am so jealous of those of you that can grow greens (or anything) this time of the year! I just buy a little extra at the store and make sure to remind my MIL to save all of her scraps for me. That usually gets us through the winter.

 

[lleighmay]

I've got fall greens going in the garden right now- should last into the winter unless the weather gets crazy. I live in the cabbage capital of VA lol so it's always cheap and plentiful. In the fall I like to stockpile some and put it in my root cellar for winter feeding (of them and us). Most times I'll just cut the cabbage head into quarters and toss it in- they'll do the rest. Sometimes I'll hang one from the rafters in the coop just to give them something to work on. I store pumpkins (which I get for cheap or free after halloween) and apples from our orchard the same way. Crack a pumpkin on the ground and you'll come back later that day to nothing but the stem! When I run out of what I've stored I can usually find collards or kale at the grocery at inexpensive prices. They get all our leftovers too. I did try supplementing them with some alfalfa pellets (like rabbit chow) but they didn't go for that so I won't repeat that this year. (edited because I don't hang from the rafters- the cabbage does)

 

[grandmaof5]

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[mrkep]

My DW works at a restaraunt (Bob Evans) and they throw away lots of green stuff every day, she brings some home in a 5 gal bucket. Try a local place and see if they will let you into the throw away area.

 

[Boo-Boo's Mama]

I planted beets in the Fall last year; this Spring I fed the chicks greens from the beets before other things began to grow...the bunnies got the roots. Also had Swiss Chard that I fed to the chicks...they gobbled it up.

Plan to plant beets, carrots and ??? this Fall. Also plan to try sprouting for the first time.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

Last winter was my first w/ chickens. I planted a huge green 'patch'--kale, rape, spinach, turnips, radishes, lettuce anything they had at the AG center. I was able to feed my chickens from Nov to Easter from it. Each day, I pulled up a five gal bucket and fed it to them in the large suet cake cages that hang in the coops. Here in the south it's our natural winter garden.. I know it's much harder up north but maybe you could try planting in and then covering it w/ plastic like a 'hoop' house..

 

[WoodlandWoman]

During the growing seasons, they forage for themselves. Once there's nothing green available anymore, I add sprouts and wheat grass to their food plan. There are lots of threads on sprouting and growing wheat grass. There are also a lot of web sites on sprouting and wheat grass.

Alfalfa is good, too, but they usually like the leafy part, rather than the stems. Some people soak the pressed cubes, but my chickens never liked those. I think some people have fed plain alfalfa pellets, too. You can even feed alfalfa sprouts, although that's more expensive. When I sprout alfalfa for myself, I usually do an extra tray for the chickens. They do love them.

I basically just try to supplement their diet in the winter. I know they aren't eating as well as in the middle of summer, but it's better than not supplementing at all. I also try to add some non-soy protein to their winter diet, since they aren't getting all the bugs and worms from foraging during the winter. Plus they still get some sunflower seed along with their winter scratch.

 

[Organics North]

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I have Kale, Chard, Spinach and Broccoli in the hoop house, I know the Kale winters well even though it is frozen solid. (I don't know what the chickens will get, because the Kale is for US!)

I feed alfalfa pellets, I am going to keep a few bales of good 3rd crop hay around and give them a flake or two at a time this winter, to see if they like that better than the pellets..

(I sprout their grains too, and they get the remains of lettuce plants we grow indoors for our own greens in winter.)

ON

 

[txchickie]

I feed alfalfa hay. They pick the leaves off of the stems and it leaves them with some nice bedding in the run

I know some say that they have had problems with hay, but I never have.

 

[woodmort]

Remember chickens survived for years without greens in the winter so if you can't supply it they aren't going to miss it. One word of caution for those in the northern climes like me: Chickens can't replenish the grit when the ground is covered with snow so you probably should make some available to them if you're feeding greens and treats in the winter. BTW many produce sections in super markets have discards that, if you talk to the right person, can be gathered for your birds. The only thing I have against it is you don't know what kinds of pesticides and fertilizers have been used on the stuff.