Persimmons for chickens

Chickens eating persimmonsIf you choose carefully, you
can have American persimmons ripening in your forest pasture
for over six months, from August through February.  The fruits are
mostly sugar, but they provide a vitamin boost that your flock will
enjoy during the cold, winter months when fresh food is scarce.  I
tossed a few persimmons to our chickens last week to test them out and
was stunned by how well the fruits were received.  “More
persimmons, please!” the hens seemed to say.




Platter of persimmonsThis winter, I’m collecting
seeds from wild trees to start my own persimmon test patch.  With
the help of a reader and some friends and family, I’ve already nailed
down varieties that ripen in August, September, October, November, and
December.  (If you’ve got a later ripening tree, I’d trade a
waterer for some seeds.)  Planting persimmons is a long term
project, but I feel confident that at least by 2020, our chickens will
be fat and happy on the winter fruits.




I posted a lot of
information about persimmons over on my homestead blog last week:

Hopefully those tips
will help you out if you decide to add persimmons to your own forest
pasture.



Our homemade chicken
waterer
makes forest
pastures even more care-free.

Latest Comments

  1. Permaguy January 8, 2012
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