Feed Your Chickens with a Few Seeds

Instead of paying for feed, instead of depending on stores to have feed available, consider buying these seeds and raising your own chicken feed. This information comes primarily from Pure Garden's video on how the Amish feed their chickens with these five plants. I'm giving the basic information as reference for what to plant but there's more in the video.

Moringa

27% protein, vitamin A and C and calcium, good for laying hens. Put fresh moringa leaves in their feed bowl. Moringa grows fast and grows faster when you cut it back. Strip leaves every 2 weeks and feed to birds. The more you harvest, the more it gives. Dry and store leaves for the cold season.

Planting is easy. Seed in pot. I have four that grow on my deck in summer and in my sunroom in cold months. They produce constantly.

Comfrey

Roots grow 10 feet down into the soil, pulling up phosphorous, potassium, calcium, and iron, all of which go into its leaves. 25% protein, good or laying hens. Comfrey can produce for 20 years without replanting. Start with a cutting. Cut every 4 to 5 weeks to feed to your flock.

See my chickens having their first taste of moringa at YouTube.

Azolla

This is a floating water fern that doubles in size every 3-5 days. It has 25-35% protein, full of vitamin A and B12, iron, calcium, and amino acids that are good for muscles, egg production, and the immune system.

Growing it is easy:

• Buy azolla starter. You can find it on amazon or etsy or amazon. It's also known as duckweed fern, mosquito moss, fairy fern, or water fern.
• Fill any container with 4-6" of water--a storage bin, a kiddie pool, a barrel--anything! It's a good idea to grow it in 2 or 3 separate containers so you have a backup if one fails.
• Put it in a place with partial sun.
• Float your new culture on the water and wait.

Every few days, take half of what's in the tub and feed it directly to the chickens. You'll get several pounds of feed every week from one small container. 2-3 containers are recommended for 6-10 chickens. 

Once a month, give your azolla diluted organic fertilizer to provide the nitrogen they need. You could also use liquid fish fertilizer or diluted urine. Be careful not to use too much fertilizer or you'll get algae.

Tree Collards

Tree collards are perennials, so no need to keep re-planting. They provide vitamins A, C, K; calcium, iron, and antioxidants, which helps hens lay consistently, with strong shells.

• It's best to start tree collards from cuttings, not seeds. (Wish I'd known this before I bought my seeds, but we'll see what happens!) They'll root in soil or water in two or three weeks.
• Plant them in a sunny place with well-draining soil.
• Once a week, pull the outer leaves to feed the chickens.
• Once a year, cut back the stems  a bit and mulch around the base. This helps the production of leaves.

Four to six plants provide for a small flock.

Amaranth

Amaranth does well in heat, drought, and poor soil. Sounds like something I can grow!

Golden giant and Hopi red varieties are best for chickens. Planting couldn't be easier.

• Scatter the seeds on the ground.
• Rake over them.
• Water. 

Feed them to your chickens throughout the spring and summer. In late summer, let them develop seed heads. Harvest the seed heads, dry them, and feed them to your chickens. You can also replant some. Better yet, it drops its seeds and effectively replants itself.

Putting it All Together

These five plants fill different nutritional needs, in different seasons so it's best to plant all five. Ideally, plant them on your path to your chicken coop, so you can pluck leaves along the way. 

Herbs

As a bonus from Welcome to Chickenlandia, some great herbs to grow for your chickens are:

• yarrow
• echinacea
• lavender
• thyme
• marjoram
• parsley
• chamomile

~ ~ ~

If you would like to follow this blog, sign up HERE

If you like an author's posts, please click like and share

It helps us continue to do what we do

If you like this article, you may also like:

Geraniums: Scent-sational Medicine!

Gettin' Spicy!

12 Gardening Hacks to Garden Better and Save Money

If you'd like to see more of our animals at Glenmirril, check out my blog there.

If you'd like notecards, puzzles, and more with our Farm Photography, check out our store at Zazzle.

Find the Blue Bells Chronicles at amazon or order them at any brick & mortar store: