[egbert]

My eccentric MIL (who insists on describing herself as a farmers daughter who grew up with chickens although this is a major exaggeration in all areas) keeps telling me how chickens love grass and NEED grass. Now she varies between telling me that they love grass to scratch about in and how they NEED fresh grass. Catch the emphasis as she really does stress this NEED!

Anyway, this means that every so often she walks about my garden pulling up clumps of grass (not chickweed, to be clear. Grass) and then chucking it in the chicken run. As far as I can see, the chickens completely ignore it.    Now when I have been to chicken breeders the chooks are all in pens full of either shavings, or bare mud where the chooks have scratched it all away. I could understand it if she put turf in for them to play with. But handfuls of grass, which I would pick to feed horses or cows! 

So please tell me (and I hang my head in shame at the embarrassment of having to ask) do chickens eat grass? 

[Cinderhills]

Mine love grass but they free range on it.  I have no idea if they would eat it if it was chucked in a pen.  I believe the more green stuff they get the yellower the yolks, but that doesn't necessarily mean just grass.

[darkbrowneggs]

In my opinion poultry does need access to green stuff, and in fact I think most pellets include dried grass of some description. 

My Marans in particular eat A LOT of grass, and this winter it has been difficult keeping them safe from the fox and still giving them sufficient (in my opinion) access to grass plants and stuff to scratch at

Long grass can cause a problem in fowl, especially if they dont have sufficient sharp grit, as it can stay in the crop and cause compaction. 

Try hanging up a cabbage, and giving chickweed, or other chicken friendly weeds such as sow thistle fat hen etc a bit later in the year

You can sprout wheat or oats for them which will help and they will love.  If you sprout them in seed trays for a few days it all grows together and you can knock it out and hang it up as a piece with string and they can eat the wheat and shoots.

All the best
Sue

[doganjo]

No, they don't NEED it, but some like it and some don't.  They may have NEEDED it when she was a Farmer's daughter and when chickens were more or less left to fend for themselves with the occasional mash or porridge and vegetables put down for them.  But nowadays layers pellets, growers pellets or chick crumbs are like any other complete food, exactly that, a complete food.  They don't actually NEED anything else.  But many people, including myself, give them a variety of 'extras' - I have been known to throw some handfuls of grass or in fact sods of grass when digging up to gravel an area.  They decimated the sods into lumps of mud in seconds  They took a bit longer to devour the loose grass though and it lay around for a day or two, as does cabbage, lettuce and other greens.
So both of you are right to a degree.   HTH

[egbert]

Thanks all. This is the problem with having the run in one place, they do destroy all the plants. I regularly give them greens from the discount shelf at the supermarket and in the summer can obviously grow them loads of salad. It was just the grass I could not understand 

[doganjo]

You should tell her however that LONG grass is actually dangerous for them as it can get stuck in the crop, so if she does put grass in fro them it must be really short - about one to two inches in length - cutting it with nail scissors should keep her occupied for a while 

[jaykay]

You should tell her however that LONG grass is actually dangerous for them as it can get stuck in the crop, so if she does put grass in fro them it must be really short - about one to two inches in length - cutting it with nail scissors should keep her occupied for a while

That's exactly what I thought - chucking in long grass will cause real problems  Some of my hens eat grass (by 'biting' off small pieces), some eat dandelions, chicory and so on. Some only scratch for bugs.

[egbert]

 

Excellent - I will tell her that, it will give her something to worry about and keep her occupied asking all her friends if I am right for a few weeks. Peace and quiet for me

(She is alright really - there are worse MIL's. But she is also exercising her perogative as a MIL to be an interfering old bat  )

[Brucklay]

Mine are free range so wouldn't thank you for a handful of grass but will come running when they know the cats been fed as they get to clean up the morning dish - so cat food is a winner with ours!!

[doganjo]

Excellent - I will tell her that, it will give her something to worry about and keep her occupied asking all her friends if I am right for a few weeks. Peace and quiet for me

(She is alright really - there are worse MIL's. But she is also exercising her perogative as a MIL to be an interfering old bat  )

We all do that at times us MILs