Fastest growing plants that a chicken will eat?

[Pensmaster]

To my way of thinking there are no succulent plants that a flock of chickens can not or will not kill. The problem is not that they eat it all up, but that they will scratch it into oblivion in a short amount of time.

Great little rototillers they are indeed. That’s why I raise it and bring it to them. I had what I thought was a large run for them. Told my friend about it. He told me that would last about 2 months....he was right. Now I use them as weed eaters.

 

[centrarchid]

Is there some way to grow duckweed in a container for the chickens? I don't have a pond or a very big yard.

I am growing it in shallow tanks that rather larger in terms of surface area. Key to getting growth is lots of nutrients. I wash out my chicken waterers and feeders in it. Once culture gets going you can harvest about 25% of the biomass every day. Terrestrial plants cannot approach that harvest rate and persist. You also do not need to worry about chickens scratching the plants to death.

 

[Ra_]

Growing through the wire is a good technique for things like Rye Grass, which continues to grow after being topped. It won't work with things like Sunflower microgreens.
I put a cage over the crop until it's ready to eat.
I grew these Black Oil Sunflowers, Millet & Sorghum in 6 days.
Chickens ate everything in 3 days. I've got a new batch halfway done.
I use TSC generic Wild Bird Feed for the Millet & Sorghum.

 

[deepbluesea]

Amaranth is good and some cultivars are beautiful. Also rye, hulless oats, kale, peas, purslane, tatsoi and orach.

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

Is there a good source of easy to understand information somewhere about feeding plants, sprouts, microgreens, etc. to eliminate or greatly reduce the need for store bought chicken feed? I haven't fed "dog food" to my dogs for about 20 years and it just goes against my grain to feed "chicken food" to my chickens.

 

[Jules929]

Not fast growing, but I received my lavender and lemon grass over the weekend. Packaging was sketchy, but the plants are doing well. Received my vanilla plants today. They are smaller than I expected, but look healthy enough. I ran out to get the bark and moss to plant them. Overall, I am happy!

 

[Sakai]

Barley? Wheat grass?
I feed my girls barely fodder that I sprout for them. It'll go from seed to 5 inch grass in about a week. (And will only grow taller the longer you leave it)
Barely in my area is about $16 ish for a 50 pound bag and that will sprout into 200 pounds of fodder. If you plant in on the ground and keep it going, you'll obviously end up with much more for your buck.
I would try this, but the soil and environment would make this much more work than just sprouting.

 

[gohappy]

So an example? How many herbs? Do the chickens eat it all at once or do they just snack on it? Do you have a picture?

Our chicken buffet buckets have a always change combination.
This includes things like: Fennel, Thyme, Lavender, Rosemary, Sage, Oregano, Clover, and Dandelions (from our yard). We also add in vegetables from our garden from time to time, plant seeds in the buckets so they will start growing for the next season i.e. pumpkin seeds. We also make sure to change out the dirt every few months to make sure the plants have the nutation that they need.

When our girls are free ranging they do not touch the buckets any more. It is like they realized the buckets are for their coop and they are saving them for the rainy days. In one day 4 hens will eat everything in one chicken buffet bucket. So plan to have several bucket so the eatin plants have time to regrow.

 

[sonomacluck]

OP HERE.

This thread has been amazing so far, I've learned so much.

Duckweed has been the most interesting plant (by far) - I cannot believe the growth rate, and other aspects of that plant.

One plant I grew in the way past is marijuana. It grows like a weed, especially with the right water and fertilizer. Do chickens peck at pot leaves?

Since this is a legal plant to grow in many states now, AND it grows quickly - height or width as you want it to, what's the word on chickens eating pot leaves?

NOTE: POT LEAVES DO HAVE NOMINAL AMOUNTS OF THC / CBD, but they do not effect any human or animal if consumed in non-concentrated, raw amounts (?).

DO NOT ALLOW CHICKENS TO PECK AT BUDS. OR GET CHICKENS STONED AT ALL.
THEY ALREADY SEEM STONED ALL THE TIME, DO NOT ABUSE YOUR HENS!
That's my disclaimer on that.

I can't find any information on this topic. Would also be interested to know if chickens peck at HEMP.

Where is Woody Harrelson when you need him? Or Willie Nelson?

 

[centrarchid]

I am still playing with duckweed. It is highly palatable but dry matter content is very low. Will try to quantify intake in the coming days. I doubt I can raise enough to keep even one chicken fed. Area devoted to culturing the duckweed needs to be considered.

Will also be be growing some Purslane in an aquaponics system.