Bang for your Bucks?

[Snadger]

I've been doing a bit of experimenting with growing greenery for the chooks to eat.What I am after is a highly productive brassica that I can use to supplement there feed 365 days of the year.
I think the kales and collards have it and especially Walking stick kale which if planted closely should give me the biggest crop over a given area? Thousand head kale is good also methinks.

Any other highly productive brassicas you've found that fit the bill?

[Greenleaves]

The only other thing I can suggest is turnip tops, I have no idea about keeping chooks or if the tops are suitable but just thought it was a quick maturing crop

[mothhawk]

The year we reared turkeys for Christmas (50), we found they loved sweetcorn leaves. I confess we didn't grow it, just liberated some stalks from a nearby field. Don't know how economical it would be to grow it specifically to feed poultry though

[fishpond]

I assume that you will not be sleeping in the hen house or in the vicinity of the chickens, in fact I would keep out of the way of them full stop (especially the bit where the egg pops out).
I can see the local newspaper headlines now:-
Snadger found buried in chicken s**t

Sorry, other than that, Chard is quite good, rainbow or whatever.

[frias]

I grow perpetual spinach all year. None of my lot will touch Kale. They have just stripped my heather bare though and also ate the pansies.

[kathyd]

broccoli raab worth a try? not tried it yet, bit says 60 days to maturity. May be worth a shot. Mine have just decided they like to nibble my herbs - parsley and thyme so far - I'm considering a dedicated chicken herb bed in their run one of these days .

[muddled]

I'm going with the spinach this year.
Someone (I forget who....maybe Ruth Stout?) did a gardening plan where spinach was grown between every row to provide ground cover, green manure and paths.

Last year I did barley starts for the chooks. You bung an inch or two of barley into a seed tray and soak for a few hours. Then you drain off. Water well every day.
You start a new seed tray off every few days.
After the first fortnight or so (depending on weather) you have ready your first seed tray of fodder. What was just dry barley is now a mat of nutricious roots topped with several inches of lush green growth. I got the idea from the dog island farm blog. It worked quite well but you can never let the barley dry out. In my south facing garden it was a bit of a faff.

One other thing.....the best thing I ever grew (and continue to grow) for my chooks is lemon balm. I throw great armfuls of it in their run and coop in the summer. They don't really eat it much but as they scratch about it gives off a lovely lemony smell.....that flies can't stand
Once shredded by chicken feet and liberally fertilised, it composts down fast and beautifully.

[kathyd]

Must admit that when I've had wheat soaking for a few days, the chooks do seem to prefer it to the dried stuff. Bit like sprouting seeds and microgreens for us peeps isn't it . Like the idea of lemon balm - is it easy to grow?

[veggiechicken]

I'm going with the spinach this year.
Someone (I forget who....maybe Ruth Stout?) did a gardening plan where spinach was grown between every row to provide ground cover, green manure and paths.

It was Gertrud Franck http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...eme_63459.html. Must find my spinach seeds again

As for Snadger's starving chooks, I'd go with the tall kales and tree cabbages. So easy to strip off the lower leaves and they just get taller and taller until you need steps to reach the top (that's 5' to me) My girls eat anything green

[Snadger]

It was Gertrud Franck http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...eme_63459.html. Must find my spinach seeds again

As for Snadger's starving chooks, I'd go with the tall kales and tree cabbages. So easy to strip off the lower leaves and they just get taller and taller until you need steps to reach the top (that's 5' to me) My girls eat anything green

I've thought about cordon trained walking stick kale!If you can angle them a bit I reckon they will throw out more leaves on the main stem? Tree cabbages sound interesting VC? Thousand head grew to about 4 foot and they would have given more greenery if flattened a bit and allowed to grow side shoots.

[veggiechicken]

Vegetable Seeds : Cabbages

Or some Couve Tronchuda maybe?

[ancee]

Mine went mad for perpetual spinach, I still have some, but it's not as quick perpetuating at the moment! But if you have plenty of space then it keeps growing and going even with all the snow and frost we've had. So it's a recommendation from me. My lot love sticky buds, and they're free behind my house in the field. I'm trying sorrel for them this year I got the seeds free with gyo. I'm definitely going to do that with the lemon balm, what a good idea!

[muddled]

Like the idea of lemon balm - is it easy to grow?

Grows like a weed once it gets going! And the more you pick, the bushier it grows too.