[helens-hens]

I've never tried growing swede and I don't know how easy it is to do but I hang it up in their run and they love it. Other things you can grow which they like are:

cabbage
tomatoes
cucumber
broccolli
cauliflower
sweetcorn

They also like clover and bindweed leaves (just as well as our garden gets covered with the stuff!)

[Ben_H]

Carrot peelings! Posted about them last year but still cause mayhem and much amusement for us humans as they chase each other round the run.

My birds also love Nero de Toscana (Kale), refusing to touch the "common" curly stuff. This has just come to the end of it's production on the allotment so they are getting a stalk once a week to take all the small leaves off.

Never had much luck with sweetcorn off the plot however the local market will do 4 for a £1 in season and I find this works out to be a cheap treat.

Had fun with sunflower heads last year as well.

Final thought is that they seem to love hawthorn leaves so if you have any hedges near you that need a bit of a prune then try that.

[kegs]

cabbage            No
tomatoes           No
cucumber           No
broccolli              No
cauliflower          No     

sweetcorn          Yes       

Mine hate and ignore all of the above except for sweetcorn when you'd think they were stampeding over each other to barge through the doors of Harrods at a 1p sale.   The only 'greens' they go mad for are baby spinach!!  (It's costing me a fortune!)

[helens-hens]

Out of all the things I listed, sweetcorn is their favourite. I tried to grow it last year but with no success (left it too late I think).

Tomatoes are also quite a big favourite. They are one thing I manage to grow, weather allowing, with a reasonable degree of success. I grow cherry tomatoes though and the girls are getting quite adept at spotting ripe ones and jumping up and pinching them.

Things like swede, cauliflower and cabbage, if I can buy it cheaply (never grown any of these) then I hang it up in their run for entertainment, they are particularly into the swede at the moment!

[Geo]

Never tried them on swedes. I know someone who has them in the garden.
Tme to go visiting 

[spud]

Spud what is green tripe?

Sorry Geo, I missed your question ... Green tripe is raw unwashed tripe unlike the white stuff you'll see in the butcher shop.
I feed my dog on a raw meat diet and some of the tripe goes to the hens once a week. Its the one food they really get excited over, they don't get much mind you, about a table spoon or so each.

[Geo]

Thanks spud.
 I had never heard of it and never touch the white tripe either.
 Come to think of it I haven't seen it a butchers for a long time here.
  Geo

[JACDORE]

I'd so love to grow veggies for us and the hens.  I'm tackling to grow some hanging basket cherry tomatoes this year though.  Problem is with being disabled I cant get down to the soil.  I have tried a few times and if the hens dont dig the plants up my dogs pee on them and trample all over them and then the cats play and shite on them and then also dig up..  Cant fence it off this area as pretty darned skint at the mo.  Maybe one year it'll happen.  So im gonna grow in baskets like I said.  Is it ok for the girls to eat all sorts of herbs too as gonna grow them also.  Have got a very small plastic covered greenhouse thingy this week so gonna start plants off even if they just have those

[Aunt Sally]

Sow a short row of perpetual spinach.  That will supply loads of greens for the chooks.

[Geo]

Hi Jacdore. Do you have a wall or fence that you could maybe screw those long rectangular planters onto. Or even use plant pots. You could secure them at a manageable height for you to work at.

[Lastcast]

Hi Geo,
 Agree with Aunt Sally about the Perpetual Spinach. We put in two 10' rows last year and they had a good couple of handfulls (for our 12 hens) almost every other day from June to late October. Ours also love sweetcorn, usually buy the value frozen variety from various supermarkets. regards lastcast

[viettaclark]

Agree with Auntie about p. spinach and also chard. Both grow like the clappers here. They also enjoy turnip and beetroot greens and psb leaves (the manky ones!)
At the moment there are also the slug gnawed bottom leaves of the spring cabbage so plenty of greens.

[Rangerkris]

Ours seem to like a hanging cabbage in there pen, keeps them entertained for hours. How many would be to much for 8 hens a week? they had 3 last week with layers being there main food.

[Geo]

googled perpetual spinach and I will be putting some in. Looks like a row or two will keep them in greens for a while. I have heard that lettuce is a diuretic and to not feed them too much

[viettaclark]

Mine get quite a bit of lettuce since my neighbour discovered they eat it and gives me her going off bags of it. Doesn't make their poos particularly runny but it's not as rich in nutrients (particularly calcium and iron) as dark greens.
But they enjoy it.....