Hi all! Feeding question

[ddm00767]

I am looking for things to grow to feed both flock and me. I know they can’t eat raw beans and see maybe the bean stalks are ok but was thinking more like growing lots of beans partly to improve my clay soil, partly for my use also.
Main question is would it be ok to cook the bean stalks and some beans up for the chickens? They should be able to eat them cooked?

 

[Debbie292d]

I am looking for things to grow to feed both flock and me. I know they can’t eat raw beans and see maybe the bean stalks are ok but was thinking more like growing lots of beans partly to improve my clay soil, partly for my use also.
Main question is would it be ok to cook the bean stalks and some beans up for the chickens? They should be able to eat them cooked?

If you mean dried beans, lentils, they are okay are okay once boiled or soaked as they are too hard for chickens to digest otherwise. You could try soaking them for a few hours or overnight depending on which beans you have. I've got orange lentils in my ferment mix, which I ferment for 3 days.

 

[ddm00767]

If you mean dried beans, lentils, they are okay are okay once boiled or soaked as they are too hard for chickens to digest otherwise. You could try soaking them for a few hours or overnight depending on which beans you have. I've got orange lentils in my ferment mix, which I ferment for 3 days.

Yes i realize cooked beans are fine to feed and often do from purchased beans at store. But as mentioned i want to grow more for various reasons. Main question is are boiled bean stalks ok to feed?
I often chop finely green and ripe bananas and their stalks and the chickens love them. Great way to supplement feed. Also a local weed here which is edible by humans and chickens. I also feed them chopped sweet potato vines, squash and other things grown on my small farm. They are not free ranging but housed in a 30’+ covered run so i need more things to feed them economically.

 

[ddm00767]

I also feed them a pot of cooked rice daily mixed with fermented feed.

 

[nuthatched]

I also feed them a pot of cooked rice daily mixed with fermented feed.

Please do not feed them that, that's straight carbs.

 

[nuthatched]

Squashes
Tomatoes
Fodder sprouts
But they would all be considered treats/supplements.

 

[Debbie292d]

Yes i realize cooked beans are fine to feed and often do from purchased beans at store. But as mentioned i want to grow more for various reasons. Main question is are boiled bean stalks ok to feed?
I often chop finely green and ripe bananas and their stalks and the chickens love them. Great way to supplement feed. Also a local weed here which is edible by humans and chickens. I also feed them chopped sweet potato vines, squash and other things grown on my small farm. They are not free ranging but housed in a 30’+ covered run so i need more things to feed them economically.

I am not familiar with any bean stalks other than our pole beans, and they have access to those and don't eat them but my understanding is they're in the nightshade family like our tomato plants are, and could make them sick. I see now what you're talking about.

Boiling (not a crock pot) will remove the lectin (the toxic ingredient) in plants as heat eliminates it. That doesn't work on mushrooms though.

I should have guessed this is what you're talking about as we boil poison nettles to get rid of the sting so we can use it, similar thing.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

One of the best winter cover crops you can plant for clay soils is clover. Its a nitrogen fixer and helps break things up. Your birds will love it. Not so useful to you. Next best are various radishes. Good for breaking up soils, some feed value to you, your birds likely won't be nearly as interested. You can also grow winter peas, or if far enough north, fava beans.

Next year, you want to plant buckwheat, whenever best for your climate. Again, good for improving the soil, you can eat it, your birds can eat it. Consider the various squash as well.

Generally speaking, the fibrous to woody stems of most green growing things are of very limited nutritional value to your birds. Essentially, an afterthought. Needed nutrition, particularly proteins and many of the vitamins, tend to be heavily concentrated in the seed/grain/fruit, while the leaves contain much less, and the stalks typically even less than that. Excess fiber is not nearly so good for chickens as it is for us.

You can also consider applying lime/gypsum to your soil to help prepare it for use in producing vegetation. Check with your local Ag extension office, they may do free, or very low charge, soil testing.

 

[Penpal]

It might be easier to put in a row of plants along one side of your run. The chickens will reach out and bite off bits of leave. My chickens like lamb's quarter, rosemary, beet greens, dandelion. They will always prefer fresh from the plant than picked and chopped.