From the garden to the chickens beaks, weeds for chickens
Chickweed (Stellaris media)
Amongst the chickens favourite, this weed is easy to forage and digest for chicks and chickens, as well as being highly nutritious for chickens, containing vitamins A, B, C and D as well as other essential minerals and a fatty acid (gamma-linolenic acid (an omega-6 fatty acid) which contributes to healthy feathers, skin and energy
How to identify chickweed
The Hair Line ("Mohawk"): A single line of fine, white hairs runs up the stem. As the stem passes each leaf joint (node), the line of hair rotates to the opposite side.
The "Boning" Stem: If you gently break and pull the stem, the outer green layer will snap, but an elastic, stretchy inner core will remain intact.
The Flowers: Tiny, star-like white flowers. They appear to have 10 petals, but it is actually five petals deeply cleft into two lobes.
The Leaves: Small, oval-shaped leaves with pointed tips. They grow in opposite pairs along the stem.
Dandelion (Taraxcum officinale)
Another nutritious weed for the chickens, being high in vitamins and iron
Milk Thistle/Common Sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus)
Excellent for the liver health of chickens as well as being another favourite
Fat Hen (Chenopodium album)
A common weed that is a nutritious green for the chickens
Common Purslane/Pigweed (Portulaca oleracea)
A succulent weed rich in Vitamin A, C and E, minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron as well as the highest Omega-3s of any other leafy weed for chickens in which the healthy fats get directly transferred into their eggs. This succulent weed’s high water content is also excellent for your chicken‘s hydration.
How to identify Common Purslane (Portulaca oleracea)
- Smooth and succulent leaves: The leaves are fleshy, smooth, hairless, and shaped like little spatulas or teardrops. They are usually clustered at the ends of the branches.
- Reddish, Fleshy Stems: The stems are plump and usually bright red or reddish-green. They spread out from a single central taproot, forming a low-lying mat across the ground.
- Yellow Flowers: It produces tiny, yellow, 4- to 5-petaled flowers that only open briefly during bright, sunny mornings.
- Clear Sap: When you snap a purslane stem or leaf, the sap is clear and slightly slick.
Cleavers/Bedstraw (Galium apartness)
Often called “sticky weed”
Plantain (Plantago mayor/lanceolata)
Common broadleaf and narrow-leaf weed
Yellow Wood Sorrel (Oxalis stricta)
Quite often found in gardens, often described as “large clovers”
White Clover (Trifolium repens)
A high in protein, highly nutritious perennial legume
Inch Plant/Wandering Jew (Commelina diffuse)
A very common, weed often found in shady spots, it is high in protein
Scrub Nettle (Urtica incisa) and Stinging Nettle (Urtica diocese)
Must be cooked, blanched, dried or wilted before feeding to chickens, once prepared they are really high in minerals for laying hens and boosts immunity
Winter Grass (Poa annua)
Soft grass that is safe for foraging, aids with enrichment if spreading and growing in the enclosure and helps caretakers during the colder months when other lawn options can die back