The Poultry Keeper

Timbo · Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 191 Location: Cranfield, Beds.

Hello everyone.

I'm sure this must have been covered many times before but I thought I'd ask what you grow on your plot especially for chooks?

I grow Sunflowers - all along the fence about 50 cm apart. When the heads dip and dry out (watch for them getting too wet in the damp autumns we're having) I pick heads as they ripen and hang them in the run. The chooks soon get the idea of pecking the heads and have good jumping practice if you put them up high. A few of the heads (usually the big ones) I break apart on a newspaper and save the seeds (after drying out on a paper in the greenhouse) and put them into the corn over the winter. I store mine in a few jam jars but make sure they are totally dry before putting the lid on.

Of course there are many other things that can be grown and fed to chickens but I only started keeping them last summer so have had little time to see what else is a real sucess....

Which is why I'm asking you knowledgable folk! Wink

Tim

George · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 5661 Location: London

Hi Tim
According to fenny, Sunflowers aren't very good for hens.

Spana · Joined: 30 Apr 2005 Posts: 2071 Location: North Cornwall

Im going to grow Swiss Chard in every spare corner, the girls love it and will eat it even if it bolts. If they have to be kept undercover they will need extra greens and we like it too.

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6973 Location: isle of lewis

i'm not growing anything for the hens at the moment but weeds are great ,fat hen ,mine love sorrel ,and of course chick weed ,my grandmother used to grow sweet corn under her grapevines ,we used to dry them on the top of the stable and
husk them they were used to feed the chickens right the way through the winter Very Happy

suz

Timbo · Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 191 Location: Cranfield, Beds.

Oh no, not very good..? Surprised

Yet I'd read sunflower seeds were a good source of oil and vitamins. Crying or Very sad

Does anyone have any more info on this? I'd hate to be doing harm to the girls.. The wild birds certainly take advantage of the ripened heads and it seemed like an ideal way to give them a seed treat!

Timbo · Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 191 Location: Cranfield, Beds.

As for Swiss Chard, and weeds - I usually throw most of the garden waste into the run to get the extra 'manure treatment' before hitting the compost bins but hadn't tried Chard with the girls. I threw in a bit of Spinach to my Black Rocks (before I bought the Orpingtons and New Hampshires) but they weren't fussed. I will give the chard and spinach another try!

As for the Sweet Corn - of course, I often see the farmer devoting sections of his fields to Sweet Corn to encourage the Pheasant during the winter months... Corn... chickens.... logical! Just got to see if I can fit it in the small plot I have.

Spana · Joined: 30 Apr 2005 Posts: 2071 Location: North Cornwall

I stopped feeding mine sunflower hearts after Fenny explained how bad they are for the girls, but I have the video 'Keeping Hens in your Garden' by Francine Raymond- shes writing in PP next month- and she says how good they are. But thats just one of a few things she says in the video that I dont agree with.

My Highlands love Swiss Chard as well and line up along the fence hoping I'll chuck some over.

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

I grew sweetcorn in those tall kitchen bins (no lid obviously) I just drilled a few holes in the bottom and put 1 plant in each corner and one in the middle they were a great success. And they only need the space of a kitchen bin, thats 12" x12" I think.

Lisa · Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 2:27 pm Post subject:

I feed sunflower seeds to my chooks, as part of a varied diet, and I'm planning to grow some sunflowers on my allotment this year specifically to feed to the chooks (will be growing them from the "high oil" black sunflower seeds they sell for birds to eat).

I've just checked my bag of Marriage's layers mash, and sunflower meal is 3rd on the list of ingredients after wheat and barley. From that I am happy to assume that they cannot be harmful to chooks and must fulfil a useful nutritional role IF they are fed as a sensible proportion of a healthy, varied diet.

They're also included in seed mixes to feed wild birds.

And in her book "Organic Poultry" by Katie Thear, she lists sunflower seeds under feed requirements as a suitable energy source.

So sunflower seeds get the thumbs up from me and remain on the chook menu here.

IIRC the original point against sunflower seeds was that they are low in calcium and that this can upset the calcium / phosphorous balance. The argument being that too much phosphorous in the diet (from feeding too much high phos foods) and can effectively lead to a calcium deficiency, even if an adequate daily calcium amount is being eaten elsewhere. I agree that sunflower seeds do have a high calc/phos ratio (ie high phosphorus), but what I don't understand is why they should be avoided completely with a calc/phos ratio of 1:6, when it looks like whole wheat is even worse with a calc/phos ratio of 1:11 (figures sourced from the USDA nutrient database). But we don't get told not to feed whole wheat? If I am missing the point, or I've got my sums wrong, someone please tell me.

As I said calcium does not work alone in the body. Another thing it also needs magnesium and sunflower seeds are a good source of magnesium (as well as being a good source of protein, oil, vit E, some B vits etc etc ...)

That said my usual mantra of "variety is the key, moderation in all things" applies to whatever I feed any of my animals. Variety over time is essential - it doesn't have to be at each and every meal. I try for balance over a week or two - the variety in the diet making up for any nutritional deficiencies in any one single ingredient.

Just like our diet really. Except definitely no chocolate for the animals Laughing

Getting back to the calc/phos ratio I find it VERY interesting to note that a lot of greens and vegetables have a much better ratio than cereals and seeds ie it is tipped more towards the calcium (ie a much lower number for phos) And some are better than others Razz

[table:aed43378e2]
[mrow:aed43378e2][col:aed43378e2][mcol:aed43378e2]calc:phos[mcol:aed43378e2]mg calc per 100g
[row:aed43378e2][col:aed43378e2]broccoli[col:aed43378e2]1:1.40[col:aed43378e2] 47
[row:aed43378e2][col:aed43378e2]kale[col:aed43378e2]1:0.41[col:aed43378e2]135
[row:aed43378e2][col:aed43378e2]parsley[col:aed43378e2]1:0.42[col:aed43378e2]138
[row:aed43378e2][col:aed43378e2]cabbage[col:aed43378e2]1:0.49[col:aed43378e2]47
[row:aed43378e2][col:aed43378e2]dandelion greens[col:aed43378e2]1:0.35[col:aed43378e2]187
[row:aed43378e2][col:aed43378e2]carrot[col:aed43378e2]1:1.06[col:aed43378e2]33
[/table:aed43378e2]

When you then look even closer at how much calcium these things have in them then plants like dandelion greens, kale and parsley (the darker, more bitter ones) stand out as having much higher levels of calcium, 3 to 4 times as much, as the same weight of the likes of cabbage or broccoli...

Which, to me, just goes to show how important fresh greens are to a chickens diet ie to finally get back to the orginal question ( Laughing

) yes - do grow things for your chooks to eat and enjoy! Or at least feed them greens for a healthier diet.

I originally got interested in this from several sources:

The first was reading about a guy in Malaysia who raises chickens on pasture specifically planted with various greens which were chosen because they were particularly nutritious and some even had medicinal properties. Unfortunately it doesn’t say what they are, I don’t recognise any of them from the pictures, and I don’t know if they would grow in the UK anyway...

Then I found a link to an American site that sold a forage mix to plant specifically for chooks (page down to the Easy Forage Planting Mix…)

A site in Canada is adding marigold petals to chicken feed to improve the lutein content of the eggs (and, presumably the chickens benefit from better eyesight too!)

Flax seed can be added to chicken diet to improve the omega 3 content of the eggs You can grow these too - I had some pretty blue flowers last year from some seeds that the chooks missed...

Purslane greens are a good source of omega 3 – this link includes brief details of a study of chickens in Crete which had high levels of omega 3 from eating purslane when they foraged and ate it where it grew wild.

Katie Thear’s book “Organic Poultry” lists various sorts of plants, green manures and herbs for a whole variety of beneficial reasons.

I have been getting together a selection of what seeds of these I can find available and I want to grow these as a mixture for my chooks to nibble at when the greens are fairly small, nutritious and tasty. Just got to work out an easy way to do it, and also in a way that the chooks won't be able to decimate them when they get their beaks on them. So far the best I can think of is in some sort of pots or trays with a weld mesh cover about 4-6 inches high, so that they can't eat right down to the soil and the greens will have a chance to grow back and recover? A bit like "cut and come again" salad crops...

Spana · Joined: 30 Apr 2005 Posts: 2071 Location: North Cornwall

Sounds a bit like strip grazing, ie where you move the fence back a bit each day.

Very interesting.

CP · Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 6:41 pm Post subject:

That's really interesting Lisa. You've obviously been doing a lot of research into it. Wink

mojo · Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 8:31 pm Post subject:

just a word to those who know mrs mojo is planting freebies

Timbo · Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 191 Location: Cranfield, Beds.

Wow that's really interesting Lisa, well done on the research!

I think I'll keep the sunflowers on the menu as they certainly do enjoy them - I've still got them in the corn - and they go for them before anything else. Mind you, we're only talking 3 maybe 4 seeds per handful so I can't see them overdoing it!.

Sweet Corn sounds like a good one to grow - I read that you're better growing it close in a drift, rather than spreading the plants out. I guess that will help with wind damage if nothing else.

The Flax seed seems like another useful crop. I will investigate the links you have given us Lisa.

What about Garlic - Does anyone give them this? (Crushed in food for example?) We give it to the dog and it keeps her skin from erupting.

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

You're right about the sweetcorn Timbo, I think that's why mine did so well ~ I had 2 kitchen bins next to each other ~ so 10 plants altogether

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6973 Location: isle of lewis

it's warmed up there has it mojo Wink

suz