A Backyard Banquet: Feeding Your Flock Wholesome Food

​As lovers of chickens, we want to give the most nutritious, most delicious food to our feathered friends.  But,  you may be curious as to what organic foods your flock will love and that you can grow yourself!

Weed Garden
The good news is lots of fresh edible greens that your chickens love are likely already growing in abundance in your backyard. Weeds such as plantain, clover, chickweed, purslane, and dandelion will delight your chickens and your wallet. Weeds are nutrient-dense and provide many health benefits. Why not plant a weed garden especially for your chickens to feast on? Include such nutritious selections as wood sorrel, nettles, and bee balm.

Grow Fresh Herbs
A household herb garden (whether indoor or outdoor) will not only enhance your culinary adventures but will also supply many benefits to your flock. Adding fresh herbs, such as dill, cilantro, basil, and parsley, to a bowlful of backyard weeds makes for a healthy wholesome chicken salad (Steele, Lisa. "Make a Weed Salad with Apple Cider Vinegar for Your Chickens." Backyard Poultry, April/May 2017, pp. 76-78). Herbs can also be dried and added to feed for a nutritional boost. Other garden delights your chickens will love include pumpkins, sunflowers, and berries.  

Sunflower Seeds
Sunflower seeds are also a natural way to add nutrition and cut your feed costs. Black oil sunflower seeds are the most common variety fed to chickens, but any variety of sunflower will produce heads of healthy seeds. The larger the sunflower head, the more seeds you will get. The Russian Mammoth sunflower is one of the largest out there and is also easy to grow. Each flower grows 8 to 14 inches in diameter and produces a bumper crop of plump seeds, often over 1000 seeds per head (​​​Why Grow The Russian Mammoth Sunflower The Homesteading Hippy). They grow in just about any growing zone and your soil does not need to be exceptional for them to thrive. The flowers are attractive to pollinators and, drum-roll please, are deer resistant. A visually stunning, low-maintenance plant with minimal watering needs that will supply your flock with delicious, wholesome food from your backyard.


I hope these tips are helpful!  And don’t forget that PopWorms! gives your chickens a variety of all-natural, wholesome treats!