Fastest growing plants that a chicken will eat?

[FlyingNunFarm]

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?

I would think they would eat pot leaves. I know there was a thread here about someone's chickens helping themselves to the OPs plants. How it would affect them I think would depend on the strain of pot.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/marijuana-hemp-leaves.1192768/page-2
Found it!

 

[lazy gardener]

it just goes against my grain to feed "chicken food" to my chickens.

I couldn't help but notice the pun value of this sentence. Sorry. I'm easily amused.

I would not plan on green matter to provide all of a chicken's nutritional needs. Check out this book:

It is by far the most comprehensive book I've found. He outlines the details of making a balanced feed, as well as alternative feed sources. He also goes into depth about waste management so that your flock does not create a nutrient overload which can poison your soil and cause water run off issues for you and your down stream neighbors.

Good posts by all regarding provision of greens, sprouts, fodder and other materials to enhance the poultry diet.

 

[TAM Farm]

This year one of my dogs ingested a posion. I took her to the vet and after they evaluated her they asked if she had access to pot because she had almost all the symptoms of pot posioning. Personaly I wouldn't allow my chickens anywhere near pot.

 

[sonomacluck]

This year one of my dogs ingested a posion. I took her to the vet and after they evaluated her they asked if she had access to pot because she had almost all the symptoms of pot posioning. Personaly I wouldn't allow my chickens anywhere near pot.

Me either. But since this thread is about fast growing plants, I was interested to know about pot leaves. It really does grow like a weed under the right conditions, and I'm sure there are some "farmers" out there that do this.

Again, the leaves of the hemp or marijuana plant will not contain enough psychoactive chemicals to harm your chickens.

Hemp is also a very useful plant, with 0% chance that your chicken would be harmed. It was grown during wartime to produce staples like rope. It has also been cultivated for who knows how long, worldwide, to produce other useful things like cloth.

 

[centrarchid]

For the plants to be of value, the consumed parts need to be easy to digest. Hemp / marijuana do not strike me as having that characteristic.

 

[sonomacluck]

For the plants to be of value, the consumed parts need to be easy to digest. Hemp / marijuana do not strike me as having that characteristic.

From the other thread, it looks like chickens love both hemp seeds and leaves. The plant grows so quickly and prolific, it used to grow in ditches in the South (usa), it was considered invasive. The government eradicated the ditch weed. I'm referring to Hemp here, not marijuana.

More on ditch weed, interesting history:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_cannabis

 

[centrarchid]

They eat the stuff, but can they digest it?

 

[sonomacluck]

They eat the stuff, but can they digest it?

According to my internet research so far, yes. And they love it. It is incredibly important to feed them leaves without any trichomes, which can fall from buds when a female plant reaches maturity, and flowers. The safest way to make sure this doesn't happen is to simply stick with Hemp, and not marijuana.

Male marijuana plants also DO have psychoactive effect, and will produce seeds, which chickens also love. The seeds never have enough psychoactive effect for chickens to notice?

Note, there is a lot of conjecture on this topic, my statements are only based off what I know from the botany I know, and from comments around the internet. I've never tested this.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Too much "Green Food" will require you to buy more of the EXPENSIVE commercial chicken feed to make up for the protein and vitamin deficiency in your hens' diet.

Mary Jane seeds are or were at one time regularly included in pet bird seeds like the kind that canaries eat. These pot seeds supposedly are a tonic for canaries and will make a sad canary sing it's little heart out. Maybe they will also work to increase the volume and frequency of a rooster's crow.