Yes, chickens can eat carnations. Some free-range chickens love to munch on flowers and forage for greens. Growing edible flowers in your garden adds diversity to your chicken’s diet and keeps them healthy and happy.
Most chicken owners grow dandelions which are excellent for them. Adding green vegetables alongside these carnations is a good way to maintain a healthy weight for your flock too.
Considering ground flowers, mostly marigolds that are added to your chicken’s feed can help to color the yolk of the eggs. Since chickens are generally self-aware of what’s good and not for them, it’s easy to keep the poisonous flowers away in their meal.
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Are Carnations Good For Chicken?
If fed in small quantities, chickens can eat carnations. Discovered way back in the Roman times, carnations were oddly cultivated in large numbers.
They are pretty popular as indoor flowers that are generally used for decorating your homes and also to bring color/character to your room. For people who raise backyard chickens and those who allow them to roam free-range, it’s not uncommon for these chickens to eat carnations. Extensive research done on them shows that carnations do act as herbal medicine that brings a long list of health benefits for chickens.
Carnations do contain Vitamin C and other nutritional factors that add to its list of health benefits. It is always good for your flock to eat a plant-based diet that helps them to have healthy bowel movements and keeps their gut strong.
How To Feed Carnations To Your Chicken?
Just like every other aspect, it’s important to consider a few practical points before feeding your chickens carnations. Here are some of them:
- Know what you are feeding them
First things first, chicken owners should understand what they are feeding to their flock. Knowing what plants they are and hoarding accurate information from the web is the correct way to go about it. If you are not so sure about what to feed your chicken, you can always take the help of an expert.
Flowers served to your chickens should be fresh and served in small quantities on a regular basis. If you are willing to keep your chickens on a plant-based diet, it is important to have varieties of carnations on the menu rather than feeding the same thing over and over again.
- Pick young flowers
Most chicken owners pick young flowers on dry mornings to feed their chickens. It on the other hand maximizes a lot of health benefits. While serving your chickens, always remember to feed them the petals and discard the stems, stamens, and pistils. This acts as an exception for carrots or fennel where there are hundreds of flowers present and all of them are edible.
- Try to feed them a balanced diet
Thirdly, it is essential to keep a healthy balanced diet for your chickens. Marigolds, when fed in large quantities, can help your chicken to be fit. Some chicken owners do feed their flock vegetable flowers to keep them healthy. You can serve them raw and fresh to keep the nutritional value still intact.
What Flowers Are Good For Your Chicken?
There is a list of flowers that can be fed to your chicken.
1. Vegetable flowers
Chickens can have the whole plant or the flowers from the brassica family. Vegetables such as Kohl, cabbage, or broccoli are excellent for your chickens. Most owners deep-fry cabbage leaves in tempura batter to keep the meal tasteful and fun.
2. Dandelions
Dandelions are excellent for your flock too. While raising backyard chickens, you can keep them on a regular dandelion-based diet, especially during summers. The yellow color of these dandelions is beneficial to keep the color of their yolks consistent.
3. Bee Balm
The leaves and flowers are both edible for your chickens and you can feed them either raw or cooked.
4. Root vegetables
Root vegetables are an excellent meal and they can be grown in your garden. With the exception of parsnips that have poisonous tops, other root vegetables can be sliced and diced in their meal to keep your flock satisfied. Beetroots to turnips and even carrots are all edible by your chickens. But chicken owners should mostly avoid wild versions of these plants that are proven to be toxic.
5. Onion or garlic flowers
Onion or garlic flowers contain a basic amount of sulfur that can harm your chickens but if they are fed in small quantities, that can be a tasty meal. Most chicken owners do refrain from it, while some of them have said that these flowers were a perfect addition to their diet.
6. Marigolds or sunflowers
You can grow standard French marigolds in your backyard and remove the green parts while drying off the leaves. Sunflower petals are also edible. Owners should remove all traces of green while giving them time to ripen off the seeds.
Can chicken have a bouquet of flowers?
No, definitely not. The tulips and turnips are harmful and poisonous to your chickens. Most florists keep these flowers preserved in a certain chemical compound after a single batch arrives. The leaves are then cleaned with a cleaning agent that makes them shiny and glossy. Feeding these commercial flowers to your chickens is one step closer to their death.
A Balanced Meal Is Always Healthy
In summary, we all can say that carnations are completely safe for your chickens. In fact, you can add some more flowers to your chicken’s diet for variety and a great way to add extra vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
A good feed to your flock will keep them healthy all year round and even help them to lay delicious eggs.
