Bamboo leaves as food....

[hunthaven]

Wow! I have some bamboo growing (Planted it a year ago), and can't wait to give my hens some of the leaves. They have been eating me out of house and home (mostly because the squirrels keep helping themselves to the feed), so this will be a a welcome addition to the diet. Thanks!

 

[Goosebaby]

A few years ago I looked into growing bamboo and I found an online seller that has an interesting way of maintaining bamboo.
Planning is key, dig a 12 x 12 inch trench “which can be left bare or filled with sand” around the area the bamboo is going to be. Twice a year take a shovel and chop any sneaky roots trying to invade past the bamboo mote.
They have more detail if anyone’s interested. http://www.bamboogarden.com/barrier installation.htm

I ended up not getting any bamboo therefore I have no expierience in growing it or of how effective that method is so I’ll leave it to the experts. I just thought it might be useful for anyone planning on planting bamboo.

 

[Tommie Hockett]

Ok so I don't have any bamboo. However I was thinking about planting some for a dust break on my southern border. I have read several different ways of containing it. However plan to be sure before I do plant any. Having said that I never even considered it as a supplemental feed source. I haven't read the articles posted at the beginning I plan to bookmark them for tomorrow. Thanks to all yall for the interesting read!

 

[ErnieBerley]

Thanks everyone for a great chain, here is the article re: using bamboo leaf as chicken supplement. I know my chickens all love the bamboo leaves - I've ground them up really fine and added to the feed, also I've just thrown handfuls into the run area and they go nuts!! Then I learned that if I cut a bamboo stalk with leaves attached and put into the run, the chickens will eat on the leaves, hide in the branches and play around. It's a win win situation - although if you plant bamboo watch out !! you yard will end up a sea of bamboo. There are some interesting ways to keep bamboo from spreading listed in this string.... peace and happy chickening!


Feeding chickens on an organic diet containing fresh bamboo leaves results in them weighing up to 70 per cent more than those fed on standard organic diets, according to results from INBAR’s Action Research Site in Abra Province, The Philippines. The results suggest that the fibre in the bamboo leaves enlarges the digestive tract and enables the chickens to consume more and to grow faster.

At an organic chicken farm run by the project (the Bambu Organic Natural Farm), one-day-old organic chicks were sourced from a certified supplier and split into two test and two control batches that were treated as follows:

– The two control batches were fed a standard organic diet of fermented vegetables, corn, muscovado and fermented fish;

– The five test batches were fed a standard organic diet of fermented vegetables, corn, muscovado and fermented fish, with bamboo leaves added.

Young bamboo leaves were harvested by hand on a daily basis to ensure freshness, from a widely-grown Bambusa species known locally as “bayog”. If supplies of “bayog” were not readily available, another commonly-growing species, Bambusa blumeana (“kawayan tinik”), was substituted. The bamboos grow naturally within the chicken farm itself and are not cultivated, and hence organic.

The leaves were chopped very finely and mixed into the standard chicken feed from day one to day seven. For the older chickens (days eight and onwards), fresh bamboo leaves were made available for them to peck at; the leafy branches were pruned from the bamboos and placed on the ground throughout the ranging area.

Results

The graph of results shows a huge improvement in the weights of the chickens fed on bamboo, with them being 70 per cent heavier by the fifty-sixth day.

Further development

Work continues to investigate the effects of changing the ratio of bamboo leaves to other fodder, on the number of days bamboo leaves are included in the fodder, on other bamboo species and on different breeds of chicken. The work suggests the enormous potential for using bamboo leaves as chicken fodder, though more trials are needed.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

I wonder what the best method is to chop up bamboo leaves? I tried stripping them off the culms with my hands, and then cutting the leaves into pieces with scissors, but that was kind of slow and tedious.

I read once that the best way to control bamboo is to eat it. The shoots that is.

 

[ErnieBerley]

I wonder what the best method is to chop up bamboo leaves? I tried stripping them off the culms with my hands, and then cutting the leaves into pieces with scissors, but that was kind of slow and tedious.

I read once that the best way to control bamboo is to eat it. The shoots that is.

yea the shoots are nutritious for sure - but I think with the leaves it's nutrition plus they improve the microbiome of the chicken...like a natural probiotic - My chickens pull the leaves off the stems/stalks after I cut the bamboo and lay it out in the run. I also used a high speed food processor (grain grinder) to chop up the leaves and add to food.

 

[CindyinSD]

I wonder what the best method is to chop up bamboo leaves? I tried stripping them off the culms with my hands, and then cutting the leaves into pieces with scissors, but that was kind of slow and tedious.

I read once that the best way to control bamboo is to eat it. The shoots that is.

Maybe dry and crumble, then if needed, powder in a blender or perhaps wet grind? I have no bamboo to experiment with—only snow ATM, but I think I’m sold on planting one or two of the super hardy varieties I found online (none of which was invasive) in spring, if we have spring this year...

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

I tried chopping some up with a cheap food processor I have and it didn't work.

I cut up with scissors some Japanese Arrow Bamboo leaves, which are much larger than normal bamboo leaves (5-10x), so I got more with each snip, and they loved it.

 

[HAPPYCHICKENLADY17]

I found this article on-line about a SE Asia Study that reported feeding chickens bamboo leaves will lead to increased growth and improved health. Supposedly, the bamboo nourishes their microbiome (a natural probiotic) and provides nutrients. I have a forest of bamboo and began cutting branches with young growth and feeding it to chickens. They LOVE it - they eat the leaves and then they also hide out in the limbs and climb around as the leaves die, so it's a natural "gym" in their coop run area.

Anyway I thought I'd share this and see if anyone else has experience feeding chickens bamboo.

peace and Happy Holidays !

we have bamboo...im gonna try it

 

[ErnieBerley]

I tried chopping some up with a cheap food processor I have and it didn't work.

I cut up with scissors some Japanese Arrow Bamboo leaves, which are much larger than normal bamboo leaves (5-10x), so I got more with each snip, and they loved it.

yea the food processor has to be really high speed....which is the grain grinder