How to Grow Chook Food

Prepare a garden bed in full sun. Weed the bed and then rake it to remove any roots, rocks or debris. Till it to a depth of 8 inches while incorporating 5 to 7 inches of compost. Rake the bed again to make it even and smooth. Run the rake along in tracks to leave furrows in the earth.

Load a seed spreader with wheat. Spring wheat, sown in March or April, wll produce seed heads in August. Broadcast the wheat over the bed. Young pullets will graze on the grass-like shoots and you can harvest the seed heads later and winnow them for stored feed. Rake soil over the wheat seeds. Water the wheat and let it grow until the end of summer.

Sow red clover in late summer after you have harvested the wheat. It grows quickly and can withstand light frosts. You can just hand sow it after tilling the wheat stalks into the soil. It is a nice round seed that broadcasts well. Sow it thickly so the seeds lay on the ground 1/2 inch to 1/4 inch from each other. Water well and then spread a light dressing of compost on top to hold the seed to the soil.

Allow the chickens to graze on the clover and then till it into soil in October or allow it to overwinter and till in spring. The clover is a nitrogen fixing plant and will help amend the soil for the spring planting. After the production of clover you can also grow watercress.

Start watercress seed in pots filled with compost mixed with half garden soil. Submerge the pots in a larger pot filled with water. Sow the seeds 1/4 inch deep and cover over with soil. You may start seed indoors in winter and move outside when frosts are past or you may start them in the pots outside in spring. Place the pots in a shady or partially shady location and allow the chickens to feed on them.