i havent been able to find the answers i need anywhere in here ........ i have acorns all over my yard , they have been on the ground now for a couple months , is it too late to give some to my chickens ? also , should i crush them up , or will they break them up themselves ? i dont wanna give my chickens old acorns if it can make them sick or kill them !!!!
My chickens have a ton of acorns in their run, and don't bother with them at all. They act like they are invisible. We have a large amount of oak trees on our property, and the runs are under 3 oaks. I don't think they see them as a food source. Kacey Oh and Welcome to BYC !!!
Acorn palatability varies quite a lot with the species. Your local wildlife will give you a good idea as to how tasty yours are. My birds don't eat many acorns. They're kind of large and tough to digest. But if they are crushed first they'll often spend time picking out the bits of nutmeats.
By this point, most will have split open and sprouted or started to mold. I was at a playground one day with my kids and collected acorns which had just split open. I shelled them and dropped them in the run. A couple were devoured. The rest sat in the run for a few days before they were finally eaten.
Mine dont eat acorns either. They also live under an oak tree so its possible they eat some I dont see. The yardbirds will occasionally eat some that are run over.
Quote:If the acorns are large you will have to break them and then the birds will pick through them. Either way chickens aren't going to peck them open like a crow would. Joe
Most acorns are high in bitter tannins. I'm not sure if it is dangerous to chickens but it is dangerous to people. Preparing them for eating is very tedious work, drying them, shelling them, boiling them a few times to remove tannins and grinding them. I just collect acorns and crack them open. Then put them in the blender with some water until the mixture is smooth. I put it in the freezer in an open container and leave it until it is freeze dried. Then I break it into powder, which I use for tanning animal hides (rabbit and squirrel)