top 10 list of greens

ShowGirls · **Joined:** Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:25 pm **Posts:** 2

What the top 10 list of greens to feed the chooks and ducks would lettuce be no1?

andre · **Joined:** Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:21 pm **Posts:** 612

how about mungbeans, they are green!

BroodyHen · **Posted:** Thu Feb 24, 2011 2:00 pm

Im not quite sure I think it was Don Burke, but they said that iceburg lettuce (your everyday lettuce) isnt good for chooks, apparrently it is poisonous.

Im not sure of how true this is, but our chooks seem to turn their beaks up at it anways

BroodyHen

johs · **Posted:** Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:59 am

I think iceberg is fine, just not too much, as it can give them the runs. My girls like it but it's not a favourite.

parvo · **Joined:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:39 pm **Posts:** 735

Lettuce isn't actually poisonous, it's just that nutritionally it's mainly water and not much else.
Most of the other leafy greens are nutritionally superior, and if you give a variety you get a better range of nutrients covered.
Fresh is better than old & limp (which the birds often ignore anyway!)

oozcorpse · **Joined:** Sun Nov 04, 2007 8:15 am **Posts:** 2715

andrewschooks wrote:

how about mungbeans, they are green!

peace love and mungbeans is it Andrew

Lettuce - if you feed a guinea pig lettuce it will kill it therefore dont give it to my chooks - there are so many much better choices out there - try Silverbeet and Brussel Sprout plants also cabbage leaves

dont feed yr chooks potato scraps - I've been told they are extremely bad for chooks

andre · **Joined:** Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:21 pm **Posts:** 612

I don't ever actually close the door to the chicken pen (we have four Maremmas for predator control) so the hens are able to access pasture, greens, grasshoppers, worms etc ad-lib. So when a new grain comes along (like mungbeans) they really go for it! I guess the moral of the story is as far as this thread is concerned, is they love something new and tasty!

Rhode Red · **Posted:** Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:04 pm

In the winter, when my lawn and other greens are in short supply, I buy drumhead cabbage from the markets. The hens can eat one of these in a few days. I understand that they say cabbage is not good for softfeather fowls, but as all those good things in life, moderation is good. The other good green option is lucern chaff. Soak in water over night and feed in the mornings, they love it. A tip for those yellow legged bird breeders lacking a litle on the yellow, soak a bucket of chaff over night feed the chaff, make a wet mash with the water still in your bucket (a nice greeny/brown colour). Yellow soon becomes orange.

Rhode Red

parvo · **Joined:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:39 pm **Posts:** 735

soozorps wrote:

Lettuce - if you feed a guinea pig lettuce it will kill it therefore dont give it to my chooks

Hi Soozorps- that is actually a total myth that has been perpetuated for along time. Many bird breeders and pet shops say the same, but in reality is totally untrue. I have a friend who is an avian vet and also treats exotics ( eg rabbits and guinea pigs) and he has confirmed this to be the case.

soozorps wrote:

there are so many much better choices out there - try Silverbeet and Brussel Sprout plants also cabbage leaves

- I totally agree, there are much better choices, but it's fine to give them some lettuce, it just doesn't contain much in the way of goodies.

It's not that I'm a huge fan of lettuce. It's just not as bad as it is often made out to be.

BroodyHen · **Posted:** Sat Feb 26, 2011 8:29 am

Not sure if its good for them but our chooks seem to love tomatoes, Ive come close to losing a few fingers from feeding them

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