Raising Chickens at Home - Natural Chicken Treats For Your Poultry
I was lounging by the kiddie pool one day in my backyard when I heard a commotion in my garden.
I enjoy raising chickens at home and since I was going to be around all day, I had taken pity on my chickens (and my four roosters) and let them roam around the yard for the day.
When I got up to investigate, several of the hens and one of the roosters had flown over the fence around the garden and were gobbling up the vegetable plants.
At first I was so aggravated, but it occurred to me that they liked fresh food just as much as I did.
While their chicken feed is designed to provide all the nutrients they needed, they obviously enjoyed fresh food as well.
After I chased them out of the garden and covered it with poultry netting to keep them out, I went online to see what types of natural chicken treats I could grow for them.
They obviously liked the leaf lettuce, the cucumber leaves and the tomatoes, but I wanted to find out if there was anything else I could grow for them.
I have always enjoyed raising chickens at home but it had never occurred to me to grow treats for them.
I soon found that my chickens would eat most any kind of leafy veggie that I gave them.
My chickens' favorite natural foods are: - lettuce - cucumber leaves - chard - leaf beat - melons of any kind - bananas, oranges - grapes - peals of any kind both fruit and veggies I keep trying new things and for the most part, they eat just about anything I put out.
Obviously, some of the hens have their favorite foods and they also have foods that they won't touch! Just experiment with your chickens and see what they like.
Pretty much, assuming it a fruit or veggie, if you can eat it, they can eat it.
There are benefits to providing them with fresh veggies is that the egg yolks were so yellow! The eggs still tasted just as fabulous as they always did.
Egg production also increased when I started giving them fruits and vegetables on a daily basis.
Raising chickens at home and growing natural chicken treats for them is so much fun and it has become a great way for me to become more self reliant.
I didn't get my chickens in order to be more self reliant but as the years have passed, I've realized that no matter what happens between my garden and my chickens, I don't have to worry about not having food one day.
I enjoy raising chickens at home and since I was going to be around all day, I had taken pity on my chickens (and my four roosters) and let them roam around the yard for the day.
When I got up to investigate, several of the hens and one of the roosters had flown over the fence around the garden and were gobbling up the vegetable plants.
At first I was so aggravated, but it occurred to me that they liked fresh food just as much as I did.
While their chicken feed is designed to provide all the nutrients they needed, they obviously enjoyed fresh food as well.
After I chased them out of the garden and covered it with poultry netting to keep them out, I went online to see what types of natural chicken treats I could grow for them.
They obviously liked the leaf lettuce, the cucumber leaves and the tomatoes, but I wanted to find out if there was anything else I could grow for them.
I have always enjoyed raising chickens at home but it had never occurred to me to grow treats for them.
I soon found that my chickens would eat most any kind of leafy veggie that I gave them.
My chickens' favorite natural foods are: - lettuce - cucumber leaves - chard - leaf beat - melons of any kind - bananas, oranges - grapes - peals of any kind both fruit and veggies I keep trying new things and for the most part, they eat just about anything I put out.
Obviously, some of the hens have their favorite foods and they also have foods that they won't touch! Just experiment with your chickens and see what they like.
Pretty much, assuming it a fruit or veggie, if you can eat it, they can eat it.
There are benefits to providing them with fresh veggies is that the egg yolks were so yellow! The eggs still tasted just as fabulous as they always did.
Egg production also increased when I started giving them fruits and vegetables on a daily basis.
Raising chickens at home and growing natural chicken treats for them is so much fun and it has become a great way for me to become more self reliant.
I didn't get my chickens in order to be more self reliant but as the years have passed, I've realized that no matter what happens between my garden and my chickens, I don't have to worry about not having food one day.