Garden for Chickens

[MandaRae]

Who has a Garden that is solely dedicated to your Chickens/Livestock?
Can insee some pictures? I'm trying to think of setups and ideas.
Plus I'm anxious to start growing even though I'm Zone 5b and my last frost isn't until May
I need to see some inspiration!
I am planting:
Corn
Sunflowers
Cucumbers
Zucchini & squash
Carrots
Beets
Radish
Peas
Strawberries
Tomatoes & Peppers (no leaves obviously)
Herbs like oregano, chamomile, thyme

 

[_-Captain BRM-_]

Here are my favorite herbs to grow for chickens, ducks, geese, and rabbits! Herb gardens are very easy to keep in pots and can be really cute on decks and such.
Basil
Peppermint (any kind, I do multiple since I love to eat it)
Oregano
Thyme
Chamomile
Echinea (purple cone flower)
LAVENDER (so so so good for them and it smells AMAZING)
Lemon balm
Parsley

Those are my favorites, but there are WAY more. Marigolds are so pretty and definitely would add to the list. Good luck, if you have any good ideas, I'd love to hear them!

 

[MandaRae]

Here are my favorite herbs to grow for chickens, ducks, geese, and rabbits! Herb gardens are very easy to keep in pots and can be really cute on decks and such.
Basil
Peppermint (any kind, I do multiple since I love to eat it)
Oregano
Thyme
Chamomile
Echinea (purple cone flower)
LAVENDER (so so so good for them and it smells AMAZING)
Lemon balm
Parsley

Those are my favorites, but there are WAY more. Marigolds are so pretty and definitely would add to the list. Good luck, if you have any good ideas, I'd love to hear them!

Oh yeah I have tons of basil and a few different types of Mints. I have a huge spiral herb garden with all those listed and usually when I prune everything the chickens get some of the extra.

 

[Acre4Me]

Marigolds are great for egg yolk color intensification. Many feeds add dried marigolds or marigold extract to the feed for enhanced yolk color. In addition, marigolds are considered a pest deterrent and deer won’t eat them. They are practically indestructible, pretty and flower until frost. We planted a good range of marigolds last year, including a 3 foot tall variety and a very miniature variety (small flowers and leaves but rather bushy) and several in between.

Nasturtiums. An edible flower and the leaves are edible as well - even for humans. The flowers are a bit spicy tasting. We had some bugs go after them last year (likely bc we covered that bug’s preferred brassica crop). But we never have had bugs on the nasturtiums before that.

Peas: great cover crop or garden crop, train the up/over a small structure (and buy taller varieties). This will provide a nice shady spot for your girls. A couple years ago, we had a row of peas outside the run. A few could fly over a section of fence. There was one chicken that daily would fly over the fence, hang out in the peas, lay her egg and then get herself back into the run. So, we always found her egg in that raised bed!

Gourds: we plant fast growing gourds to shade the south side of the run. It works well. Gourds, when mature, are not edible. But, when young, many of them are edible. We had to add extra small HWC to the area of the run fence to keep the chickens from devouring the young green gourds, and their large green leaves. So, gourds are climbers. It is easy to find birdhouse gourd seeds in packets where seeds sold. The birdhouse type grow fast and have big leaves, so great for shade. Not sure about the smaller decorative types also seen in seed packets.

Other things they may enjoy would be millet and any variety of grasses.

 

[MadGardener]

A note on marigolds: the French type are supposed to be the type that repels pests. I've only recently learned this. Previously I bought what was pretty. Rabbits ate all of my Mexican type marigolds.

 

[MadGardener]

If you have space, comfrey is an awesome plant. Great for chop and drop mulching, compost tea, and medicinal. My chickens devour the leaves which I read provide B12 and Tryptophan with a high overall protein level. The tap root lets comfrey access minerals too deep for many other plants.

You can chop and drop several times a year but I try to leave flowers for the bees and hummingbirds.

This stuff does spread and is nearly impossible to remove once established. Several varieties have been developed with sterile seed, but it will spread underground anyway.

 

[MandaRae]

If you have space, comfrey is an awesome plant. Great for chop and drop mulching, compost tea, and medicinal. My chickens devour the leaves which I read provide B12 and Tryptophan with a high overall protein level. The tap root lets comfrey access minerals too deep for many other plants.

You can chop and drop several times a year but I try to leave flowers for the bees and hummingbirds.

This stuff does spread and is nearly impossible to remove once established. Several varieties have been developed with sterile seed, but it will spread underground anyway.

The spreading is why I haven't planted any yet. I could plant near the tree line that boarders and unused field

 

[MadGardener]

The spreading is why I haven't planted any yet. I could plant near the tree line that boarders and unused field

I'm able to mow around my patch and it rearly helps. Some did escape underground to a bed maybe 30" away. I have mostly successfully moved that and turned it into a mint bed which I think will win out eventually. Also able to mow that, and smells nice too.

 

[SpicyDisaster]

The girls will be getting a raspberry patch in the pasture. They loved hanging out in the one at the old house and they are banished from the garden here so I've got raspberries coming for them to have a patch of their own. They enjoy the shade as well as jumping to eat the berries. Since the wind knocks the ripe berries off the ladies gobble them up.