Chickens eat grass, hay, soil, rocks, earthworms...

I know that many types of grass and weeds are edible for both humans and animals.

When I first started researching grass, I was told by google that humans wouldnt get any calories from eating grass.

Of course, thats because I didnt specify the type of grass, and google answers such as Quora often come from simple people who do 0 research but still give answers anyway.

Later I found out that certain grasses are edible for humans.

But what surprised me in chickens is that they eat everything.

They pick any grass available and eat it.

They even eat soil.

Despite having lots of wheat and corn available, they seem to also enjoy eating hay, dry grass, leaves...

So I am going to mow some grass and give it to them.

Before I used to specifically pick dandelions, clover and nettle, but chickens seem to be eating almost any other grass too, even dried.

So I figured I might as well just mow some grass and give them.

Hay is a form of dried grass that nearly all farm animals eat. Chickens will eat it but it's pseudo-filling them, they are creatures that need a lot more protein than fiber, that's why grains/seeds are optimal for them as they have the right combination of fiber and protein.

You are talking about what an animal will eat but be aware that humans eat themselves to obestity or anaemia at times. What a creature feels like eating isn't always what's best for it.

Stick more to the grains/seeds especially corn. You can also buy pellets which have the perfect mix for chickens but I understand you're trying to cut cost.

grass/hay is fine for the fiber but they actually are not good with a vegetarian diet unless there's a lot of grain and seeds in it for some protein. You'd be better off giving them eggs and actual meat, even snake meat, than going heavy on the grass.

If you keep feeding them too much grass and dandelion (nonsense to feed them dandelion) you will get skinny chickens with low egg productivity.

I feed them a variety of things. Grass and dandelion is just one part of it.

I am giving each of them about 50 grams of grain a day.

Its true that there is a store-bought food for chickens, which has everything they need.

I have bought that too, however it doesnt pay off to feed them on that alone.

I mix about 40 grams of store food with 50 grams of grain per chicken.

The rest of their food comes from nature.

When they grow bigger, I will probably have to feed more.