[peter rooster]

Hi

Looking for greens to feed the girls, lots of dandy lion plants can I feed these?

pete rooster

[GrannieAnnie]

Oh Yes!  Dandelion and chickweed very good for the chooks!

[Lindeggs]

Dandelions are one of my chickens' favourite foods!  They hunt them down in the lawn and eat them.  But I notice in some of my more overgrown weedy patches the chickens will eat only the young, tender dandelion leaves and leave the older, tougher ones.

Humans can also eat dandelions so I encourage you to take a nibble!  You'll find that the young leaves are quite edible (although probably an acquired taste) but the older leaves are much more bitter.

I use dandelions in my foraged summer pesto (for humans) along with lots of other common weeds and the usual basil and parsley.

[peter rooster]

yhank you I will get picking I must learn to identify chick weed I am sure I have it growing over veg garden. I will be glad when the lettuace and curly kale grow . I hang them from the roof of the pen for them to peck at in the run. I had them eating eggs but they seem to have stopped since I hung veg and put the dust bath in .

[GrannieAnnie]

It's a very dainty looking creeping weed Peter.  Like this!

http://www.invasive.org/browse/subinfo.cfm?sub=3077

and its the first greenery I give to the young chicks when they are old enough

[peter rooster]

Thank you for link, I have just finished weeding the garden before digging put loads of it in compost bin. It is the one that seems to cover vacant land in my guarden plus I think I see lots when walking dogs in the fields.

[GrannieAnnie]

There you go then! 

[otis pony]

My girls luvvvvvvvvvv dandelions, and my children like collecting them for them. 

[avilla]

can they eat the flower as well as the leaves?

[GrannieAnnie]

They can, but not all of our girls like the flowers.

[Chrysalis]

I was going to post this in What I did today thread, but....I spent an hour weeding the dandelions in the front garden and feeding them (some of them!) to the hens.  They can have more tomorrow.. they love 'em 

[Lindeggs]

can they eat the flower as well as the leaves?

Apparently the yellow pigment in the flowers is meant to make the egg yolks lovely and yellow!  I don't know if that's true because my pullets aren't laying yet. 

I heard the same about marigold petals and my chickens won't touch them. 

[themagicaltoad1]

Dandelions are a diuretic, another name for them is "wee a lot", so if you do try them don't be surprised if you find yourself running to the loo a lot more.

[evie2]

I had an elderly lady patient who cultivated dandelions in a pot to have in salads

In our garden it's chicken v rabbit where dandies are concerned

[peter rooster]

Hi to all

tried them and they love them I love food for free. When I had ducklings I fed them on a stringy sticky plant that grows in hedge bottoms. Section of stem six or so leaves then 6 inch gap and another bunch of leaves. It goes into a sticky ball when gathered up. Sorry for description but is it suitable for hens as well.