Grass for chickens is an important component of nutrition. Juicy leaves saturate the bird’s body with vitamins, protein, and minerals. However, you cannot give laying hens any plants. Some of them contain poisonous substances and are dangerous for birds. It is also important to observe the proportions in the diet, otherwise even useful plants will cause harm. Let’s consider what herbs can be fed to chickens and chicks.
Benefits and harms of grass in the diet of chickens
Deficiency of protein, minerals and other necessary components occurs in birds that are constantly in a closed room or in cages. Herbs for laying hens are considered an ideal source of many substances that are needed for their development. The chicken diet changes with the onset of summer. Half of the feed portion is replaced with greens.
The addition of various herbs to the diet makes it possible to avoid the occurrence of vitamin deficiency, and increases the egg-laying capacity. The marketable and taste qualities of eggs are significantly improved. In such products, the yolk acquires a richer and brighter color.
To improve eyesight, laying hens are given alfalfa. After all, it is an irreplaceable source of retinol and protein. Sprouted wheat increases immunity, improves productivity of birds. After all, it contains a considerable amount of vitamin E. Sorrel is rich in ascorbic acid. In order for laying hens to receive a sufficient amount of protein, clover is introduced into the feed.
Plants prevent the development of diseases in poultry, and some of them are used for treatment.
Yarrow and tansy have an anthelmintic effect. To saturate the body with vitamin D, chickens are given sprouted grains. This substance is used in the prevention of rickets.
Legumes, as well as grains, are more useful than other herbs – oats, clover and peas are welcome in the diet. Dandelions are rich in vitamins. The ideal mixture for laying hens consists of pig manure, clover and dandelions. In order for the body to receive the required amount of protein, chickens are given amaranth, and to strengthen bone tissue, loquat is given.
Laying hens are often fed with nettle leaves, which are previously scalded with hot water. Bran is added to such feed, but it can also be combined with a grain mixture.
Most breeders feed weeds to laying hens. A variety of grasses allows birds to choose the plants needed to replenish certain trace elements. Damage can be caused by feeding livestock with herbs containing poisons.
Dried plant leaves allow you to diversify your diet in winter. Flour from pine or spruce needles, grain is considered a good substitute.
What grass can be given
The chicken is omnivorous, so while walking around the pen, it eats the plants it wants. But what kind of grass is fed to laying hens deprived of walks? They add:
- dioecious nettle;
- middle asterisk (wood louse);
- plantain and alfalfa;
- medicinal dandelions;
- couch grass;
- cereal leaves;
- sorrel;
- creeping or meadow clover;
- milkweed.
It is allowed to feed laying hens with hard root crops, cabbage leaves. Beet tops, dill sprigs and onion feathers are also added to feed.
In the corral, you can specially sow plants suitable for feeding livestock.
Prohibited plants
To exclude the possibility of poisoning by poisonous plants, it is recommended to carefully inspect the place of the walk. Dangerous grasses must be uprooted.
Dangerous include:
- spotted hemlock;
- agrostemmu (puppy);
- Hemlock (cat’s parsley);
- all varieties of elder;
- laburnum;
- potato flowers;
- blekotu (very poisonous);
- chrysanthemum;
- black solanum and beauty, belonging to the same family;
- leucoynia yellow-eared;
- white acacia leaves, as well as pears;
- juniper.
The above-mentioned plants provoke diseases that lead to the death of chickens. Inexperienced farmers need to learn to recognize those that are a threat to laying hens.
A chicken can eat dangerous herbs if it is trying to expel parasites from its body. However, it is forbidden to feed them specifically.
Feeding chickens with grass
Chickens are given herbs from the permitted list in unlimited quantities, but the young are characterized by weak protective functions of the body. External factors and improper diet are the cause of diseases.
From what age can greens be introduced into the diet
They start feeding the chicks with grass a week after they hatch. However, there are also those who start giving grass to young animals on the second day of their life. In any case, it is necessary to take into account the norms of green feed per day:
| Age of chickens | Amount of grass (in grams) |
| From 0 to 5 days | 1 |
| From 6 to 10 days | 3 |
| From 11 to 20 days | 7 |
| From 21 to 30 days | 10 |
| From 31 to 40 days | 15 |
| From 41 to 50 days | 17 |
The grass must be thoroughly washed and finely chopped. Otherwise, the chickens will not be able to digest roughage. In addition, you can treat the grass with hot water. It is recommended to prepare before feeding.
Grass, which is stored for a long time, quickly loses its useful properties, therefore, greens are given to chickens fresh in mixtures. Experienced farmers fill a separate container with such feed.
Plants allowed to young
Chickens eat dioecious nettles, medicinal dandelions, plantain, meadow or creeping clover, onion feathers, sorrel and lettuce leaves, and dill sprigs. Plants have a pleasant taste for birds and contain many useful properties, among which the increase in the body’s protective capabilities, obtaining the required amount of protein, and improving food digestion processes are highlighted.
In winter, you can give grass dried in summer and mixed with boiled vegetables and bran. Feed should not contain sharp and large pieces of leaves and stems, because the chicken can damage the mucous membrane.
As the first supplement, it is recommended to give young alfalfa, clover and oats. They contain not only protein, but also the maximum amount of trace elements that stimulate the growth of muscle mass.
Harvesting grass for the winter
For harvesting hay, young grass is suitable, as well as hay. You can sow certain grasses in separate areas. They mow it before the beginning of flowering. To preserve more minerals and other useful substances, green fodder is dried in a shaded place, keeping the leaves intact. After mowing the grass, it is recommended to remove it immediately under the canopy. It is necessary to stir carefully so as not to break the integrity of the leaves.
More useful substances are stored in the leaves of plants than in the stems.
Grass cutters are used to chop hay. It is necessary to prepare 3 kilograms of dried herbs for one laying hen for the winter.
Conifers in the diet of chickens
Inexperienced farmers think that pine needles are not suitable as an additive for chicken feed. However, the component is beneficial due to its unique composition. The chicken eats mixtures with such an additive better than with herbs. Needles are rich in vitamins K, P, C and B 2 , provitamin A, essential oils, tannins, xanthophyll and chlorophyll.
The product has a positive effect on the general condition of laying hens. Strengthening of immunity, increased resistance to a number of diseases, improvement of metabolic processes is noted. In chickens, needles prevent vitamin deficiency.
Chickens are happy to use pine or spruce needles. Chickens do not immediately get used to them because of the specific taste. They are given in dry or fresh form. However, the needles are prepared according to a certain principle, because tannins, glucosides, and resinous components are present in its composition. These substances are harmful to laying hens.
- After cutting, the legs of the trees are placed in a dry, warm room, laid out on shelves made of netting.
- A film is spread under the structure. After a few days, the fallen needles are collected.
- The collected is crushed and stored in glass containers with tight lids.
To make the needles fall off the branches faster, you can heat them in the oven for 30 minutes.
It is necessary to collect needles starting from November and ending in March. During this period, the product contains less essential oils.
A coffee grinder or a mechanical meat grinder is used to grind needles. In this form, it is added to mixtures or given in its pure form, observing the daily norm and taking into account the age of laying hens: for each kilogram of live weight of the hen, 1-1.5 grams of crushed needles are needed.
If necessary, the needles can be burned. It is recommended to pour the resulting ash into a separate container and place it in the chicken coop. Such a bath will not saturate the body of laying hens with useful substances, but it will help drive away parasites.