Anyone who free ranges their flock even some of the time knows that chickens will eat pretty much anything you have planted, so why not choose some nutritious flowers that they will enjoy when you're planning your gardens in the spring ?
(As an added bonus, all ten of these flowers are also edible for humans.)

 Here are my choices for
The Top Ten Flowers your Chickens Will Love: 

1. Nasturtium not only attract bugs that eat the dreaded squash beetle larvae, the leaves and flowers are also edible for humans and make wonderful salad garnish.   Your chickens will love eating both the loeaves and the flowers, which are thought to be a natural wormer and also have antibiotic properties.

2. Squash blossoms are tasty stuffed with a sausage/ricotta mixture then fried, but the chickens love them also fresh off the vine.  The blossom is a good source of calcium, iron and Vitamin A, so let them indulge from time to time.

3. Violets make beautiful edible garnishes for cakes, cupcakes and ice cream, and also help with circulation and stop inflammation of the arteries. Your chickens will enjoy munching on them too.

4. Marigolds not only ward off insects in your garden, but they are also an antioxidant and promote the growth of new skin tissue.  As an added bonus, chickens who eat marigolds lay eggs with bright yellow yolks.

5. Bee Balm  is a wonderful flower whose leaves can be made into a healthful tea with antibacterial properties that is also used to clear respiratory problems in humans and chickens.  It of course also attracts bees which help pollinate your flowers and fruit trees. Your chickens will enjoy both the flower and leaves.

6. Dandelions  are a nice addition to salads. I guess technically a weed, instead of spraying them why not pick some for your chickens.  They are a natural detoxifier and one of the most nutritious plants in your yard, with lots of iron, calcium and Vitamin A.

7. Roses and rose hips cleanse blood toxins and act as antiseptics and antibacterial agents for both humans and chickens. Roses are also a classic as well as a beautiful way to decorate a cake with an edible garnish.
  

8.  Sunflower seeds are obviously a favorite among the feathered crowd, and also very nutritious, providing protein and essential oils to both humans and hens. The leaves are edible as well and your chickens will enjoy stripping the stalks of them.

 
9. Clover Blossoms are considered to be the most nutritious weed in your yard.  Both a blood purifier and an antioxidant, clover provides calcium, iron, magnesium and Vitamins A, B-12 and E as well as respiratory benefits. 

 
10. Echinacea (or coneflower) flowers and seeds are excellent for improving respiratory health. Chickens are extremely susceptible to respiratory illnesses, so planting some echinacea will benefit them greatly.

Flowers to Steer Clear Of:
For the most part, chickens will avoid those flowers that are harmful to them, but to be on the safe side, it's best to AVOID planting the following potentially toxic plants in areas your chickens can access:
azalea, black nightshade, buttercup, castor bean, clematis, corn cockle, foxglove, henbane, honeysuckle, irises, lily of the valley, oleander, privet, rhubarb leaves, rhododendron, St. John's Wort, sweet pea, trumpet vine, vetch, yew

There are many, many more potentially harmful flowers and plants....but if you stick to the ten safe AND nutritious flowers above, your chickens will thank you ! 

We raise Pekin ducks on our farm here in Virginia, right alongside our chickens.  We have four ducks, Penelope, Sasha, Sonia and Brigid and one drake, Gregory, and collect between 3 and 4 eggs every day, right through the winter. In fact, the ducks out laid our chickens this past winter!

The ducks are a lot of fun to raise, but what we love best about them is their eggs.  I had never eaten a duck egg before our ducks started laying them for us, so I didn't know what to expect.

Turns out, they are pretty similar to chicken eggs.  Of course the duck eggs are larger - about 30% larger to be precise.  Our duck eggs usually weigh in right around 3 ounces, which is considerably heavier than even jumbo chicken eggs. 

Duck eggs contain slightly less water and more fat which makes them superior for baking.  They make cakes and breads rise better. On the flip side, overcooking them makes them rubbery, so they aren't best used for frying or scrambling, although we do eat them both ways with care taken not to overcook them.  I find the eggs do have a bit stronger 'egg' taste than chicken eggs which makes them stand up better to strong cheese such as Swiss or sharp cheddar, say in an omelet.

I always use our duck eggs in a one-to-one ratio in recipes that call for chicken eggs (I try and use the smallest for baking), but since a large chicken egg contains roughly 3 Tablespoons, you can also lightly whisk the duck eggs and then measure out 3 Tablespoon amounts to equal the number of eggs the recipe calls for.

Duck eggs stay fresher longer than chicken eggs due to having thicker shells.  Their whites are firmer, and ounce for ounce they contain more calcium, Vitamin B-12, Vitamin A, and Vitamin D than chicken eggs. They contain less Vitamin E and about the same amount of protein as a chicken egg, and one duck egg delivers almost a full day's serving of cholesterol.   Neither duck or chicken eggs contain any Vitamin C.  One duck egg contains about 130 calories, half of which are fat calories.

Their larger size and thicker shells make blown duck eggs very much coveted among the pysanky crowd to hand paint or otherwise decorate.

Overall, the large, rich duck eggs make a nice contrast in color, size, taste and composition to our chicken eggs and  I feel blessed to have both provided by our backyard flock.

Like any good chicken or duck 'mother', I pride myself in thinking I understand for the most part what our chickens and ducks are trying to tell me by the different clucks, growls, shrieks and quacks they use.  If you spend enough time around them, you will come to recognize a low throaty cluck of a broody hen, the sort of growling sound when they spy a hawk, the high-pitched chirp-chirp of a lost chick, and the Morse code-like chatter of the ducks when they're excited.

While I would never claim to be able to communicate with them on every level, their body language also helps convey their message and between the sounds they make and their expression, we seem to be able to get our messages across to each other at least most of the time.

So when Gregory, our Pekin drake, came over this morning while I was filling the ducks' pool and started chattering away, I assumed he was just excited about having a clean pool, so we 'chatted' about it for awhile with him getting more and more worked up by the minute....well, imagine my surprise when I glanced over my shoulder to see the run gate had swung partway open and all the chickens were escaping!

As I ran to get them back into the run, I swear Gregory waddled away, completely disgusted by my failure to communicate with him.  And yet again, I was humbled and reminded how much I still have to learn about our backyard flock.

I firmly believe in an ounce of prevention.  In fact, wasn't it Benjamin Franklin who said 'An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure' ?  He was a smart man - and I bet he wasn't even talking about chickens when he said that!

But he was right, it's far easier (and cheaper) to keep your chickens' immune systems strong and healthy and give them the best chance at fighting off illness and infections themselves than to try and treat something after they have contracted it.  Being the ultimate prey animal and being part of a pecking order that preys on the weaker members of the flock, chickens work very hard to hide signs of any illness or injury, so often by the time you see any symptoms, it is too late to treat whatever is wrong.

Because of this, in addition to the layer feed mix  I give to our chickens, I also supplement their diet with what I call the 'Holistic Trinity' of healthy chickens: Apple Cider Vinegar, Garlic and Diatomaceous Earth. 

First in the Trinity is APPLE CIDER VINEGAR. 

It's great for their immune systems, guards against bad bacteria and maintains digestive health in the intestines by lowering the pH levels and is an overal health booster.  It increases calcium absorption so your chickens will get more 'bang for the buck' from the eggshells or oyster shell you provide them.  ACV aso acts as an antiseptic by killing the germs that cause respiratory problems - which chickens are extremely susceptible to - in the throat.

Add apple cider vinegar (raw,organic ACV with the 'mother' is best, Bragg's brand for example) to your waterer a few times a week, or alternatively one straight week every month. The ratio is 1 Tablespoon per gallon of water.  The ACV will also help keep your chickens' water free of harmful bacteria and algae.  Be sure and use a plastic or stoneware waterer tho. The ACV will rust the metal and galvanized waterers.

I have also started using the generic store brand ACV to rinse and clean the waterers instead of bleach or another commercial cleaner.  I just mix it with water in a spray bottle or pour some into a pail of water.

Second in the Trinity is GARLIC.   Garlic boosts immune systems and it is also thought that mites, lice, ticks and other parasites are not as attracted to the blood of animals who eat alot of garlic. Garlic is also a natural wormer.

Garlic can be added to your chickens' diet in a couple of different ways.  You can float whole cloves in your waterer (mashed up a bit), replacing them every few days.  You can offer crushed fresh cloves in a small dish free-choice. Or you can add garlic powder to their feed.  I have tried all three and find it easiest to just add the powder to their feed (2% ratio), but every once in awhile I also give them a bowl of the fresh garlic.

Small chicks should also be offered crushed fresh garlic, free-choice, early on so they develop a taste for it.   A splash of apple cider vinegar in their water is also a great health booster for chicks. 

The third in the Trinity is DIATOMACEOUS EARTH (DE).  DE is an all natural silica-based crushed fossil that kills hard-shelled insects.  It kills fleas, ticks, flies, aphids and digestive worms while being completely safe for chickens.   Only food-grade DE should be used around the chickens, because they will inevitably end up eating some.  I  add DE to their feed in a 2% radio.

DE does also kill good bugs and can cause lung aggravation if the dust is inhaled, so take care where and how you sprinkle it.   You can wear a dust mask while sprinkling your coop floor, nesting boxes, around the feeders, in the dust bath area, etc.  

I find that one good way to disperse the DE is from a plastic shaker bottle, like the kind Parmesan cheese comes in.  I keep a full bottle in the run and sprinkle it liberally, especially in the summer when the flies get bad.

Bonus health tips !  Plain yogurt with live cultures and black strap molasses are also good to give your chickens on occasion as both have health benefits for your flock.  A weekly serving of yogurt will help keep the good bacteria levels high in your chickens' digestive systems and molasses contains lots of minerals including iron and copper, manganese and potassium, as well as calcium.  Molasses helps flush toxins out of the chickens' systems. 

Yogurt can cause diarrhea so it should only be given in small amounts and conversely, probiotic powder can be added to their feed in place of the yogurt to help boost the good bacteria in their intestines.

And there you have your Holistic Trinity plus something for intestinal health.  The holistic secrets to raising healthy chickens.

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The Welsummer breed is fairly new to the United States, only having been admitted to the American Poultry Association in 1991, so it is ironic that they are what that average person thinks of when they picture the typical 'barnyard chicken'.  Even more ironic is that a Welsummer rooster, Cornelius, is the guy who graces the Kellogg's cornflake box, instead of an American breed like a Buckeye or a Rhode Island Red.  But no matter where they originated or when, there's no denying they are a gorgeous breed of chicken.    

Welsummers were developed in the eastern Netherlands, in a small Dutch town named Welsum sometime in the early 1900's and were imported throughout Europe, arriving in England in 1928, but not in the United States until much later.  Active and good foragers, they quickly grew in popularity however as a dual-purpose breed, laying nearly 160 terracotta-colored speckled eggs a year on average.

 My first experience with the breed came this past March, when I hatched two Welsummer eggs.  

Knowing the Kellogg's connection, and because these were the last two eggs to hatch, our Facebook fans named our two chicks Cornflake and Late Nate.   At a week old, the two chicks already had subtle differences in size and coloring....  

 and by three weeks old, Late Nate was clearly larger than Cornflake.  It seemed that, prophetically, Nate was a rooster.  By a month old, Nate's comb was much larger and brighter red and his tail was longer than Cornflake's.  

 By five weeks, Nate clearly had wattles forming, although he doesn't have the thicker legs or spurs that some breed roos grow early on.  Nate and Cornflake are six weeks old now and I'm figuring we'll be hearing some crowing from Nate in the next two weeks or  so. 

 He's the cutest thing tho, a miniature rooster, sitting and watching over the rest of the chicks. 

We'll keep Nate until he starts to crow and is big enough to be introduced to a friend's flock, where he'll rule the roost at her farm.  As for Cornflake, she will join our flock with the rest of our hens and lay us some of these beautiful terracotta speckled eggs !