Mung bean question - need clarification

[6of6chicks]

Are sprouted mung beans okay to feed to chickens? I've been searching the forum and googling - with mixed results. I've been sprouting a small amount of regular scratch for a treat once a week, and they LOVE it. I have some mung beans that I'd love to get rid of, so I was thinking of adding it to their scratch mix. Not a lot - maybe 2-3 sprouted mung beans per chicken.

Found this site, which says yes:
http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/6-6/bean_sprouts_as_a_dietary_supplement_for_your_flock/

Found this site, which talks about raw mung beans being fed to poultry. Assuming if raw is okay, sprouted is okay?
http://www.feedipedia.org/node/235

Found this thread, which went back & forth and the mung bean link was outdated:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/32822/soybeans-all-beans-poison

I just want to make SURE it's okay before giving it to them. I currently have one chick in sick bay (coccidiosis/sour crop), and the LAST thing I want to do is stupidly poison the rest of my healthy flock. If someone can clear this up & give me a definite yes or no on SPROUTED mung beans I would be very grateful!

 

[FluffyDucks]

I'm sure my answer will be just as frustrating because I can only speak to what uncooked beans sprouts can do in humans

Mung beans are safely consumed in the early sprout as far as I know by humans because they contain a very moderate amount of lectins after day 6. You wouldn't want to eat them before they have sprouted enough to disperse the toxin or eat them in large amounts after.. Eating them before hand you can experience a very bad belly ache,gas vomiting and diarrhea and in worse cases intense cramps and bleeding.


However, this may affect your chickens and other livestock in different ways. I don't really have any personal experiences with the effects of beans sprouts as fodder for livestock to reflect on or wisdom to impart. After reading the ref links data even the one that states you can in small amounts I personally wouldn't give any raw beans to my flock at all . (imagine chicken farts and chickens with severe cramps...yuck). That is a definite NO.

I may occasionally give them bean sprouts that are safe for my own consumption but only in a very small amount as a treat from time to time..

In conclusion, I think the cons outweigh the pros of supplementing sprouted beans and with a sick chick already I wouldn't be testing it out on the others. I hope she gets better soon! Best of Luck!

 

[6of6chicks]

I'm sure my answer will be just as frustrating because I can only speak to what uncooked beans sprouts can do in humans

Mung beans are safely consumed in the early sprout as far as I know by humans because they contain a very moderate amount of lectins after day 6. You wouldn't want to eat them before they have sprouted enough to disperse the toxin or eat them in large amounts after.. Eating them before hand you can experience a very bad belly ache,gas vomiting and diarrhea and in worse cases intense cramps and bleeding.


However, this may affect your chickens and other livestock in different ways. I don't really have any personal experiences with the effects of beans sprouts as fodder for livestock to reflect on or wisdom to impart. After reading the ref links data even the one that states you can in small amounts I personally wouldn't give any raw beans to my flock at all . (imagine chicken farts and chickens with severe cramps...yuck). That is a definite NO.

I may occasionally give them bean sprouts that are safe for my own consumption but only in a very small amount as a treat from time to time..

In conclusion, I think the cons outweigh the pros of supplementing sprouted beans and with a sick chick already I wouldn't be testing it out on the others. I hope she gets better soon! Best of Luck!

Thank you. I was reading about different things to sprout as a way to take my mind off my sick girl. I have a jar of mung beans in the pantry and I was wondering if they could go to the chickens the same way the steel cut oats did. I can't stand steel cut oats and had a full box, so I was happy to give them to my chickens. Not all at once, of course

- just an occasional treat of oat mash. So I thought maybe I could do the same with the mung beans. I personally can't stand them and just hate wasting food. But you're probably right and it's better to throw them out. *sigh*

 

[LindaB220]

Are sprouted mung beans okay to feed to chickens? I've been searching the forum and googling - with mixed results. I've been sprouting a small amount of regular scratch for a treat once a week, and they LOVE it. I have some mung beans that I'd love to get rid of, so I was thinking of adding it to their scratch mix. Not a lot - maybe 2-3 sprouted mung beans per chicken.

Found this site, which says yes:
http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/6-6/bean_sprouts_as_a_dietary_supplement_for_your_flock/

Found this site, which talks about raw mung beans being fed to poultry. Assuming if raw is okay, sprouted is okay?
http://www.feedipedia.org/node/235

Found this thread, which went back & forth and the mung bean link was outdated:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/32822/soybeans-all-beans-poison

I just want to make SURE it's okay before giving it to them. I currently have one chick in sick bay (coccidiosis/sour crop), and the LAST thing I want to do is stupidly poison the rest of my healthy flock. If someone can clear this up & give me a definite yes or no on SPROUTED mung beans I would be very grateful!

Don't you just love feedipedia? Mung beans sound really good. Maybe we should try and grow some plants and get more seeds.? Hmmmmmm.

 

[LindaB220]

I'm sure my answer will be just as frustrating because I can only speak to what uncooked beans sprouts can do in humans

Mung beans are safely consumed in the early sprout as far as I know by humans because they contain a very moderate amount of lectins after day 6. You wouldn't want to eat them before they have sprouted enough to disperse the toxin or eat them in large amounts after.. Eating them before hand you can experience a very bad belly ache,gas vomiting and diarrhea and in worse cases intense cramps and bleeding.


However, this may affect your chickens and other livestock in different ways. I don't really have any personal experiences with the effects of beans sprouts as fodder for livestock to reflect on or wisdom to impart. After reading the ref links data even the one that states you can in small amounts I personally wouldn't give any raw beans to my flock at all . (imagine chicken farts and chickens with severe cramps...yuck). That is a definite NO.

I may occasionally give them bean sprouts that are safe for my own consumption but only in a very small amount as a treat from time to time..

In conclusion, I think the cons outweigh the pros of supplementing sprouted beans and with a sick chick already I wouldn't be testing it out on the others. I hope she gets better soon! Best of Luck!

Ok, so we assume that we have to sprout for 6 days (in other words fodder) to have safe sprouts. Another option is to sprout or just ferment. Added to the fermented feed bucket it will work overnight.

 

[FluffyDucks]

LOL You sound like me, if there is one thing that I agonize over a lot..it's waste. Mung beans aren't a fav of mine but I have had them sprouted and they smell just terrible. But people swear by the benefits of eating them and many people love them, I dont know how many you have but perhaps if it is a large enough amount you can take them to your local ministry or charitable food locker for them to disperse to needy families. You could also just cook them and feed them to the chickens that way they will be able to have the vegetable protein safely.

 

[FluffyDucks]

Ok, so we assume that we have to sprout for 6 days (in other words fodder) to have safe sprouts. Another option is to sprout or just ferment. Added to the fermented feed bucket it will work overnight.

Hi Linda

Yes at least 6 days old (4 days is still considered too early as far as safely consumable lectin amounts go in bean sprouts) and I agree with fermenting I hadn't even thought of that.

 

[Chris09]

First, What is written about humans is not necessarily true about other animals.
Second, There is not a "bean toxin" or a "toxin" that has to cooked, sprouted, or fermented out before use.
The reason that we have to process beans for non-ruminants/monogastrics animals is because of a trypsin- inhibiting enzyme. This enzyme can inhibit protein digestion in non-ruminants/monogastrics animals.

*Note typically, Cattle, Goats and Sheep have no problem prepossessing raw bean proteins.

 

[FluffyDucks]

Hi Chris I appreciate the response and agree what pertains to humans is not the same for animals in many cases.
Lectin can be toxic and is found in mung beans and other beans as well as many other poisonous plants

But here's some helpful links that may explain it better.

http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/toxicagents/lectins.html
http://www.fda.gov/food/foodborneillnesscontaminants/causesofillnessbadbugbook/ucm071092.htm
http://www.livestrong.com/article/305368-list-of-foods-that-contain-lectin/

Whether or not this toxin effects varied livestock the same way I could not speak to

I was commenting on my knowledge on human consumption of lectins

Im pretty sure my uncle has had a cow or two off in his soybean fields without it killing the cow.but probably gave it bad gas.

 

[Chris09]

Fluff,
I'm not disagreeing that some legumes need to be processed before non-ruminants eat them, what I am disagreeing with is the terminology.
Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that are found in all forms of life, some are bad and some are not.
The Lectins that are found in most legumes can be reduced by simply soaking overnight or you greatly reduced by heat as in roasting.

The link that 6of6 posted states that raw mug was fed in a test on layers.
Quote from http://www.feedipedia.org/node/235
I know for a fact that raw soybean in "low amounts" have no ill affect on chickens and ducks since mine would clean up after the combine in the fields.