Fodder for rabbits, chickens, and ducks. Zone 8a, southern Utah

Hello all,

I am hoping someone can give me some ideas of what to plant for fodder crops for chickens, ducks, and rabbits. I've been told tagaste will work well. I'm hoping I can plant a few fodder crops that will also cross as cover crops. My soil is sandy with clay.  I'm in Rockville Utah. I'm also hoping I can make my own rabbit pellets with the fodder for winter feeding.

Thank you!

During winter and actually any time of year I like to suggest microgreens for chickens, ducks, rabbits, and other animals.

What plants do your chickens, ducks, and rabbits like to eat?

Probably any vegetable seeds that you might have would work.

I would also suggest planting some perennials that are native to your area that your chickens, ducks, and rabbits might like to eat.

Here are some threads that you or others might find helpful:

https://permies.com/t/175367/Homegrown-foods-rabbits

https://permies.com/t/7662/realisticaly-grow-feed-rabbits

https://permies.com/t/187383/Tree-hay-dried

Among other plants, consider lambs quarter, amaranth, and purslane. It wouldn’t surprise me if these were already growing wild all around you. They all do excellent in the arid southwest (I’m in Nevada, just outside Death Valley), and are considered “weeds” by most people.

What I have found to be the Best forage crop for chickens and rabbits , not certain for ducks...is ALFALFA. I start my chicks on alfalfa greens when first start pecking around. This conditions them to have a taste for it as adults. I give my flock alfalfa bales, leave the strings on and they devour the hay. As the bale gets smaller, I cut the strings and snug them up again on the bale and re-tie. Rabbits love alfalfa too. You can feed "store bought' alfalfa pellets to rabbits, why not a bale? I have weeder geese to clear irrigation ditches...I give them grass hay in the winter to supplement with the wheat that I place in their water pan.
Of interest? I have found that the "plants" that you give baby chicks and geese to eat, they will develop a taste for as adults. I have a friend who did not give her chicks alfalfa to eat as babies, she tried to give them a bale of alfalfa as adults, they had no idea they could eat it.