Can chickens eat kale?
Yes they absolutely can. As with all things in life moderation is key. Chickens are omnivores and large amounts of kale would not be great for a chicken’s diet. But small amounts of leafy green vegetables like kale are a great addition to a diet containing high-quality chicken feed.
Why bother feeding chickens kale?
Kale is a healthy treat for chickens because it contains lots of amazing vitamins and minerals. Just like it is a healthy treat for us humans!
Kale contains:
- Vitamin B
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin K
- Calcium
- Fiber
- Carotenoids
- Manganese
- Beta carotene
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is amazing for immunity and helping with healing any wounds that your chickens might get. So organic kale is an excellent diet addition, especially if one of your flock becomes ill.
Vitamin K
Vitamin K is great for bone building and blood clotting. A super food for healthy chickens as well as if they get injured.
Antioxidants
Kale is packed with antioxidants, which are excellent for reducing inflammation and keeping everything ticking over and reducing the impact of aging by mopping up the free radicals within the chicken’s bodies.
Kale is a healthy food to add into your chickens diet which will promote good overall health. It should keep chronic diseases at bay and promote good eye health too.
How often should you feed kale to your chickens?
Even though this amazing leafy green vegetable is a super food with many benefits, cooked or raw kale is not a complete feed for your chicken. Too much kale can be a bad thing. Chickens need a balanced diet which includes the health benefits of kale without excluding all the other great healthy foods that chickens could and should be eating, and of course plenty of water.
I aim to feed my flock some small pieces of kale a couple of times per week. We give these pieces as healthy snacks in addition to their regular feed. Our chickens love snacks it’s a great way for me to bond with my flock as they come running over to see what treats I have brought out today!
In the summer season when I have kale growing in the garden it is easier to feed my flock regularly. Once the crop is finished I put the birds onto the bed and let these natural foragers feed themselves. They tend to go for the worms and bugs too alongside nibbling some of the kale plants.
Any surplus kale that I grow, I freeze and then I have a steady supply which can be easily defrosted and fed to the flock throughout the winter.
Which part of the kale can I feed to my chickens?
This green leafy vegetable has many parts that can all be eaten by chickens.
Yes, chickens can eat kale stalks.
They can eat kale leaves
Yes they can even eat kale seeds!
They will even have a go at nibbling on the roots of a kale plant too.
The whole plant from top to bottom can be fed to chickens. My flock tend to focus on the leafy bits, they are less keen on the stalks.
Can chickens eat kale every day?
No, I would not recommend feeding kale every day to your chickens. Whilst these dark leafy greens are amazing healthy treats with high nutritional value, they do not provide everything that a chicken needs. To maintain optimum chickens’ health they need a balance. So feeding kale a couple of times per week should be enough to give them a good dose of greens whilst ensuring that they also get other foods required for their omnivorous diet. The way I see it is that you don’t want to fill up the chicken with so much fibrous kale that there isn’t enough space for them to eat the protein and calcium in other forms that they need for health.
In addition, like in humans, too much fiber can be detrimental to the gut and could cause wind and bloating – leading to an unhappy chicken with sore insides.
What type of kale can I feed my chicken?
There are so many different kales out there that you can grow in your garden. They are all amazing super foods that can be fed to your chickens. Experiment with growing different varieties so that you can find out which ones your chickens prefer the best. Always remember when you are introducing new foods to your chickens that it is worth doing it slowly. Get them used to a little bit of the taste before increasing the amount that you give.
All of the following are good!
Curly Kale; the wrinkly, crinkly kale that you most likely think of when you think kale
Red Russian Kale; more of a flat leaf kale, usually has a purplish stem with green leaves
Redbor Kale; truly red throughout and nice and crinkly
Dinosaur Kale or Lacinato Kale or Cavolo Nero; many names for the same plant depending on where in the world you live! A flat leaf dark coloured kale
Baby Kale; all of these kales are sometimes grown for their small leaves. If you are growing for chickens then I would recommend letting the plants grow bigger and using a cut and come again method of harvesting. The kale plants will develop throughout spring, summer and autumn and keep supplying healthy greens for your chickens.
There are also lots of other greens similar to kale, for example turnip greens and collard greens that have similar health benefits and grow similarly to kale and can be fed to your birds as a tasty treat.
Do I have to grow my own kale to feed to my chickens?
No you do not have to grow your own kale. It just works out a lot cheaper if you do. And when you are buying kale from a shop, be mindful of pesticides. You don’t want to inadvertently feed pesticides or other chemicals to your flock. So look out for organic kale. This is the main reason why I grow my own kale!
Can chickens eat kale raw or cooked?
They can eat either. Raw kale is by far the easiest, especially if it is grown in your garden.
Cooked kale for me is a hassle. Plus once it is cooked it loses some of the nutritional value in the cooking water. Personally, I don’t see the point in cooking kale for chickens. But you could steam it. It would have to be kept plain, just kale and water. You wouldn’t want to add any fats or oils to the kale as this would take away from the health benefits and could be harmful to your chickens.
What vegetables should chickens not eat?
Whilst chickens are omnivores and can eat many things there are a few to avoid feeding to your chickens including:
Leaves of nightshade family (tomatoes, peppers and aubergine plant leaves)
Raw, green potatoes
Any mouldy vegetables
Any vegetables cooked with salt or sugar
What are 5 things not to feed chickens?
Mouldy foods – mould can be bad for a chicken’s guts, it can even be deadly in some cases
Salty food – too much salt is not good for a chicken, especially their hearts
Sweet and sugary food – if it’s unhealthy for humans it’s also unhealthy for chickens
Caffeine – the jury is out on this one, some folks like to feed used coffee grounds to chickens, but personally I don’t
Processed foods – these are full of sugars, salts and UPFs which can cause obesity and other health problems, keep your chickens well clear.
In conclusion, feeding kale to chickens a couple of times per week as a healthy treat is an excellent way to maintain their overall health. It brings benefits to their immunity, eye health and wound healing. The easiest and cheapest way to feed kale is grow your own and to feed it raw. I would love to hear how you get on with feeding kale to your backyard chickens, let me know in the comments below.