Grow Comfrey for your Chickens!!
Comfrey is known to be a very beneficial plant to feed chickens. Generally, Comfrey will contribute to the overall healthy of your flock.
Two specific benefits to Comfrey for Chickens:
Better Nutrition
Comfrey is high in protein, minerals and vitamins, especially vitamin A, which can improve egg quality and also helps to promote the growth of healthy feathers.
Comfrey Contains Allantoin
Comfrey contains allantoin which has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties that can help heal any skin irritations you face with your chickens.
How to Feed Comfrey to your Chickens
The preferred method of feeding Comfrey to chickens is to chop up some leaves and mix them in with other feed. This is a great way to control how much they can eat. As with all new dietary items in your chicken's diet, moderation is important. Feeding too much Comfrey can cause digestive issues, so ensure it's only a part of their diet.
I've occasionally let my chickens have access to foraging them, as I have an abundance of Comfrey around the farm.
What kind of Comfrey is Best for Chickens?
"Russian Comfrey", a perennial in Zones 4 through 9, is often considered the best variety for feeding chickens due to its high nutritional content and adaptability.
This type of comfrey is smaller than Common Comfrey, about two feet by two feet, and has sterile seeds so it's not invasive. Bocking 14 must be produced by root cuttings or crown divisions.
The flowers can appear in May and June attracting pollinators and beneficial insects. It's easy to grow, and can thrive in almost any soil.
Russian Comfrey flowers are typically bell shaped and are blue or violet, but can also be purple or white.
It is a member of the Borage family of plants. Comfrey will shoot up quickly in early spring. Comfrey is often grown for its sheer beauty, but there are several beneficial reasons for growing this great plant in your garden.
The Many Uses of Comfrey
As a Fertilizer
Comfrey leaves contain high levels of potash and reasonable levels of nitrogen and phosphorus as well as smaller amounts of iron, calcium, and magnesium. Its concentration of nutrients actually outperforms manure, compost, and many liquid feeds.
To use Comfrey as a fertilizer, you can place chopped Comfrey right on the soil or till them in.
As a Liquid Fertilizer
Comfrey can be used to create a liquid fertilizer to use on your plants. Just steep some chopped Comfrey leaves in water and weigh them down. Five pounds of Comfrey per seven gallons of water will do the trick.
Let the solution sit for four to six weeks. The solution will end up being dark and thick and it can be diluted into a 12 to 1 ratio of water to the Comfrey solution for a great liquid plant feed.
As a Soil Conditioner
The roots of Comfrey will penetrate deep into the subsoil to access nutrients that are beyond the reach of most shallow-rooted plants. Comfrey roots will also break up compacted soil.
For Vegetables
For an increased yield in your potato harvest, place the first flush of Comfrey leaves in the trenches where the potatoes are growing to provide the tubers with nutrients.
The high potassium content of Comfrey makes it especially beneficial for vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers or peppers as well as fruit trees. Potassium is great for increasing flower and fruit production.
As a Mulch
When Comfrey is used as a mulch, it has a great advantage over using leaves or straw which can actually pull nitrogen from the soil.
While Comfrey used as mulch is beneficial to tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, using it to mulch root crops of leafy greens is not recommended as it may encourage them to go to seed prematurely.
For Attracting Pollinators
Those beautiful flowers of Comfrey will attract pollinators to your garden in early summer. Bees especially love the Comfrey flowers.
For Seedlings
When planting seedlings in the garden, add fresh cut-up Comfrey leaves to the planting hole. The leaves will break down and quickly add nutrients right at the root level.
In the Compost Pile
Comfrey leaves are known to be a compost activator. The addition of Comfrey in the compost pile will speed up the decomposition of other compost materials. The added nitrogen from the leaves will result in increased microbial decomposition.
Plant some Comfrey near the compost area and add a leaf whenever adding to the pile.
Planting Comfrey
Plant Comfrey in cool areas in the spring; in warmer areas plant in the wet season. Comfrey grows well in nearly every soil, but it performs best when given extra moisture. Part sun to full sun will allow it to bloom well.
Using Comfrey Leaves
You can cut Comfrey leaves all throughout the growing season and the existing branches will quickly replace them with a fresh flush of foliage to use gain. Because Comfrey grows so fast, it is a great source of greens for your compost all season long and into the fall.
Harvesting Comfrey Leaves
Comfrey leaves are best harvested when they are cut before the plant blooms. It is advisable to wear gloves when harvesting the leaves as the hairs on the stems can irritate the skin. If your plant is new, don't harvest for the first year to let the roots get established.
For the first cutting of the leaves, do this when the plant is about two feet tall and cut the plant back to within a few inches of the crown. Just know that if you begin harvesting that early, you will not get flowers later that season.
Make More of a Good Thing!
Root Cuttings
Root cuttings of Comfrey are very easy to do. The best time for dividing Comfrey is in the spring, but it's a tough plant and you could divide it any time of the year. Cut pieces of the root 3-5” long and just lay it across a prepared garden site. Bury it 2-3” deep. Keep moist until the first leaves appear.
Crown Division
The crown of Comfrey can be divided into as many pieces as you care to make. Plant the separate clumps just below the soil surface and keep it most until the leaves appear.
