Best greens for chickens in the winter?

[Crooked Chicken]

I have no clue what you are referring to. Cubes? 2"x2" compressed hay commonly sold in 50# bags? No. Just regular small bales that average 50-60#. Decent amount of leaf and small fine stems. Cubes tend to be made out of mature inferior hay that just doesn't have the eye appeal to be sold in baled form. It will have very little leaf and you will pay about 50% more.

I think Morrigan was referring to this type of dried/compressed alfalfa cube that they sell for small animals

I actually think this would be a hit for wintertime when they may spend more time penned up. It will make them work for their greens/keep them busy.

 

[centrarchid]

I have done something a bit off that might of interest. Even during winter I have gotten down and followed my free-ranging chickens based around house as they foraged. This required an adult human to do some crawling through heavy brush. The chickens and dogs either think I am cool or nuts.

The chickens seem to really be after insects and the like under snow and senescent vegetation although bulk of what is actually consumed is vegetative plant materials. They seem really partial to legumes. The partiality is not restricted to the type of plants, rather they go after certain parts leaving the rest of the plant intact. They go after the small tender leaves and buds picking off little bits only a beak of a bird can easily snip off.

Likely the easiest way to approximate that is to germinate grains / seeds providing the seedlings to birds. Birds eat the entire seedlings but that should not be a problem.

I soak oats and shell corn which often are in process of germination when consumed but I suspect actual conversion to a green fodder would be better although much more labor intensive. I feed a lot of birds so try to save on labor when practical.

 

[nminusyplusm]

Along the same thought process, I'm experimenting by growing a legume cover crop of crimson clover. I really started it too late but it's doing well so far... but I've only had a couple of frosts up to now.

 

[lazy gardener]

Really? Wow! Did not know that.... but does this also include the entire vegetable family that it falls into? Which would include kale or swiss chard, because those I give just as freely to my ducks. I've been playing around with the idea of growing amaranth for my ducks and chickens to nosh on next spring/summer.

Kale, Swiss Chard, and Spinach are all in different families, though they all contain Oxalic acid, which is the compound that is being blamed here. My birds are turned into the garden after I harvest it. They go to town on Chard and Kale. No doubt, they'd eat spinach if it was growing at that time. My birds absolutely skeletonize my rhubarb leaves at this time. Rhubarb is reported to be VERY HIGH in oxalic acid. Mind you, during this time of the year, my lawn is still green, and most of my yard is still green, but my birds choose to eat these plants which are on the "do not eat list". I trust my birds and their choice of free range vegetation more than I do some list.

During snow season, I sprout grains/seeds for my flock: Barley, BOSS, millet. I do not grow them to the fodder stage b/c it is actually loosing nutrients by fodder stage.

 

[centrarchid]

Kale, Swiss Chard, and Spinach are all in different families, though they all contain Oxalic acid, which is the compound that is being blamed here. My birds are turned into the garden after I harvest it. They go to town on Chard and Kale. No doubt, they'd eat spinach if it was growing at that time. My birds absolutely skeletonize my rhubarb leaves at this time. Rhubarb is reported to be VERY HIGH in oxalic acid. Mind you, during this time of the year, my lawn is still green, and most of my yard is still green, but my birds choose to eat these plants which are on the "do not eat list". I trust my birds and their choice of free range vegetation more than I do some list.

During snow season, I sprout grains/seeds for my flock: Barley, BOSS, millet. I do not grow them to the fodder stage b/c it is actually loosing nutrients by fodder stage.

Density versus quantity: time to think.

 

[lazy gardener]

? Splain last part of that statement???? Perhaps I'm suffering a bit of density.

 

[Morrigan]

I think Morrigan was referring to this type of dried/compressed alfalfa cube that they sell for small animals

I actually think this would be a hit for wintertime when they may spend more time penned up. It will make them work for their greens/keep them busy.

Yes, this is what I am using this winter. I have also gotten bales of alfalfa hay and put flakes down for them to peck through, before, but I am short on dry space to store the bale right now.

 

[centrarchid]

Density of some nutrients lower in fodder. Quantity / volume especially if a little photosynthesis involved can increase total of a given nutrient relative to sprout stage. Some of the vitamins likely to higher in the fodder stage. Density of carbohydrates lower in fodder relative to sprouts and certainly seeds.

I ideal world all three would be used to approximate what acquired through foraging.


I have child sleeping on my lap making typing difficult.

 

[lazy gardener]

Yes, my understanding is that the nutrient levels are less in fodder than compared to sprouts. I green my sprouts up before feeding them. So, they get the photosynthesis vitamin kick while still not depleting their seed reserves. And, seed is cheap, so IMO, best to feed it at it's most nutritious stage, even though they will get less volume per batch of sprouts.

 

[jthornton]

Yes, my understanding is that the nutrient levels are less in fodder than compared to sprouts.

What's the difference between sprouts and fodder?

JT