Foraged Feed and Extras for Chickens
There is much more than wild grass seeds to forage for for your chickens. It will not cost you money to do this, just your time.
Nuts
Wormer
We feed cracked wild pecans, hickory and black walnuts. The oils in these nuts help in keeping the feathers in good condition and pliable.
Grit
You will want the small pea type gravel to the left in the picture above. We go out about every three months and pick up small grit size rocks from the creek bed by the house. We bring it home and wash it and put it in pans for them. You will see them now and then picking through it. Offer it free choice
You can dry and grind black walnut hulls and add to our feed as a natural wormer. This is the out side hull and not the shell. We also add dried wild garlic to their feed as a natural wormer. When it comes up in the spring we feed it fresh, cut up in bite size pieces.
Calcium
Dandelions provide extra calcium for your chickens for good egg shells . If you live close to where you can find limestone you can crush this up and give it to them free choice.
Wild Fruit and other beans etc.
We offer our chickens wild fruit in season. What we don't use because it has bugs or worms or is damaged in any way. There is a lot of protein in the worms and bugs.Here is what we feed.
blackberries
sand plums
grapes
passion fruit
ground cherries
sumac berries (red ones)
hack berries
breadroot scruf peas
Butterfly pea
coffee bean sesbania
common vetch pods
deer berry
everlasting pea
hairy lespedeza seed
indian rush pea
partridge pea
scruf pea
native sunflower seeds
trailing wildbean
wild rose hips
Wild Greens
Our chickens free range, but if yours don't here are some wild plants that they will enjoy.
grass clippings
chickweed
purslane
lamb's quarters
cleavers
dandelion
henbit
dead nettle
chickweed