Growing food for chickens?

[Flummery]

I was thinking maybe grasses or a derivative, as opposed to veg. Is this still a bad idea.

Grass doesn't last 5 minutes either. Their favourite passtime is eating then scratching it up. You will end up with a run full of dust in the dry weather and mud in the wet.

[Mikey]

Ok, so am I just better off using wood bark, as a floor covering, and forgetting growing something of interest in the waiting bed.

[Flummery]

I would. I have mine on flagstones - no tunnelling in by predators - and I used to use bark but found it hard to dispose of - you can only have so many paths! I use Hemp bedding intended for horses, which breaks down much faster for composting purposes.

[Mikey]

Cheers flum, I have made a friend who has horses, its one of those symbiotic friendships. He has horses I want manure!

I'll ask him where he gets his bedding from, or see if he has any spare.

[Mikey]

When we are talking about tunneling how protected do they need to be. I'm building a raised wooden bed which will stand about 18"'s off the ground, and is surrounded by a concrete slab path which is between 1/2 a metre and a metre wide. Would foxes even bother trying to get in under this?

If they would then I should lay some mesh in the ground first?

[Flummery]

I don't think they would. True belt and braces style we have a path all around the run (slabs or bricks) and slabs inside so I know they'll get sore heads trying to get in under there.

Maybe someone else has experience of this?

[petal]

mine love pumpkins, we are lucky enough to have loads of room so I grow several of them. I split them with an axe(the pumpkins...) and leave em to it!

[Flummery]

Yes, that reminds me what happens to overgrown courgettes here! Halve them and stand back. A chicken with its head in a courgette is a rare sight!

[A Life Less Simple]

What a great idea, I've just moved my chickens pen around and have some room for growing something, chard it is then.

Has anyone tried growing peas for chickens?

[Flummery]

I don't grow peas specifically for the chickens but I am growing out an F3 line of pea crosses and any that don't show the correct colouring get culled and given to the chickens - this is just the shoots and foliage of course. They love them. They also love peas. I gave them a few pf the 'failure' lines from the F2 last year. Nearly had me hand off for them.

[p54jes]

Spinach beet is always a winner with my girls but they are also partial to dandelion leaves whish I have a particular skill for growing on my loppy. They are also very good at weeding my garden raised beds at the end of the salad growing season.

[chris]

Mikey, place by us sells easibed (same hemp based stuff, or very similar that flum uses): Prices & Stockists :: easibed - totally unique equine bedding

I'm going to be using that, once I've finished this half bale of shavings!

[chris]

Actually, it was auboise that I was on about - easibed is slightly different, but I believe breaks down faster than shavings anyway?