Trusting Chickens

We let our chickens roam free in our backyard almost every day.  They love to scratch all through our yard, eating bugs and grass.

We noticed last summer that there was a certain weed that they also liked eating.  We would pick them and hold them out for the chickens to eat.  And they would seek them out on their own as well.

A week ago I was reading a blog that identified (all the way down at the bottom) our mystery weed as lamb’s quarters.   I’d heard of lamb’s quarters before as a wild edible suitable for people to eat as well.  I guess we’ll have to give them a try sometime.

The scientific name is chenopodium album and lots of people eat it in any way they would eat spinach or other greens.  Some people even plant certain varieties of it where it doesn’t grow naturally.

I guess the chickens aren’t as dumb as people think–maybe we should pay closer attention from now on to what else the chickens are eating in our yard as well.