Chickens Love Peppergrass

May, our Barred Rock hen

Most everyone knows that chickens eat chickweed.  Yesterday I found out that my
birds prefer Peppergrass.  Lepidium virginicum is the official name for this weedy annual.  The chickens seemed to prefer the maturing seed pods the best.  These seed pods can also be used as a pepper substitute in salads.  Some people have found this plant beneficial for some types of Asthma, but I have no experience using it this way.  This plant is sometimes confused with Shepherd's purse. 

Free Herb Fairies Chickweed Activity Pack for Kids

Kids can learn about Chickweed or Stellaria media in this free activity pack from Learning Herbs.  My girls love feeding this plant to our chickens.  

Today and tomorrow kids can also check out the Herb Fairies Film Festival. This showcases videos that kids submitted who took the Herb Fairies course at Learning Herbs last year. It also features a free coloring page and poster download of Viola, the Violet Fairy.

Here's a little fairy dancing on a Violet leaf from my fairy blog post a couple years back.