Abbey Road Girl Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 The site for my Cube and run was turfed over a couple of weeks ago. Cube, run and Pepperpots due to be delivered on Thursday . I see that (unsurprisingly) nettles have been sprouting on the site. Since nettles are common in our gardens (and yet can make us go ow!, how have your hens handled them? I'm really asking if the site would be more welcoming with or without nettlesl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 no idea about hens but you could make some lovely soup with them (the nettles, not the chickens!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbey Road Girl Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 no idea about hens but you could make some lovely soup with them (the nettles, not the chickens!) Yes, Poet, this is the time of year, isn't it? Have never tried it. Why are we so wary of food directly from nature, yet so many of us scoff the "foodlike substances" from the supermarket. Keeping hens is a big step in the right direction! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 I haven't seen mine eat nettles, but since they scoff up flying ants and other things, I wouldn't have thought it would do them any harm? I don't know how sensitive a chicken's beak is, but they eat grit (and fairly revolting things, if they get the chance). I don't think a nettle would penetrate their feathers, but I wonder if they could get stung on the comb or wattles. You might need to keep some dock leaves handy to rub any stings with! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meezers Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 I've tried mine with nettles - they stripped all the leaves off the stem in no time , I did wonder about them stinging their wattles though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
