Free Chicken Food By Growing Perennial Plants

Raising chickens as livestock can be a rather expensive proposition and finding ways to lower costs will help to make your homestead much much successful. One way is to use plants as your supplemental food for your chickens instead of grain. While chickens mainly feast on bugs, you can also supplement their diet with plants.

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years (keeps growing back on their own). The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widely used to distinguish plants with little or no woody growth from trees and shrubs, which are also technically perennials.

Elderberries

Mulberries

Siberian Pea Shrub

Crabapple

Russian Olive

Buffaloberry

Chokeberry

Sea Buckthorn

Hackberry

Currants

Gooseberry

Serviceberry

Trees: Ash, Sassafras, Dogwood, Elm, Eucalyptus, Fig, Guava, Hawthorn, Hop Tree, Madrona, Magnolia, Manzanita, Palm, Papaya, Pine, Redbud and Citrus (all) May cause weak egg shells because it affects calcium absorption

Here are more Perennials:

Bee Balm

Black Eyed Susan

Coreopsis

Daisy

Day Lilly

Echinacea (Coneflower)

Orchid

Thistle

Velvet Nettle

Hens & Chicks

Hosta

Yucca

Catnip

Lavender

Lemon Balm

Mint

Oregano

Rosemary

Dandelions

Carrot Greens

Mustard Greens

Kale

Cabbage

Chard

Grass (Do not use Round Up)

Chickweed

Beet Greens

Broccoli Greens

Sunflower Seeds

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As a BONUS: (these chickens love these as well)

Herbs: Comfrey, Fennel, Thyme, Lavender, Nasturtium, Rosemary, Sage, Wormwood, Oregano, Chickweed, Dandelions and Nettles

Vegetables & Grains: Squash, Corn, Lettuce, Cucumbers, Watermelon, Amaranth, Plantain, Clover, Alfalfa, Sunflowers, Peas, Beans, & Legumes, Lentils, Squash, Rhubarb, Buckwheat, Asparagus and Garlic, Onions, Leeks (Alliums)

Fruit & Shrubs: Most Fruit Trees & Canes, Raspberries, Blueberries, Currants, Mulberries, Siberian Pea Shrub

Ground Cover: If you are looking for ground cover to use near chickens I would suggest White Clover. Clover is high in protein but can withstand traffic and stress very well.

Feeding them can be a bit expensive depending on the size of the flock. So, being able to reduce the amount of money you will need to spend on the supplemental food is so much better.

All of the information is presented in a way that makes it really easy to read.