Can chickens eat algae?

[TJAnonymous]

We have a small stocked pond that is maybe a quarter or third of an acre in size. Our ducks swim in this pond several times a week. The city storm sewer also runs down hill to my property and after 250+ feet of grass the runoff ends up in the POND. We get seasonal algae blooms in the pond. DH tries to put some copper sulfate out there but the results are hit and miss. I was wondering if maybe a better idea would be to use a pool skimmer to gather the algae off the surface and just feed it to the chickens?

Thoughts? The run off does worry me but I think anything potentially bad is filtered through the grass and soil before it gets to the pond... And if the ducks are not dying from swimming and feeding out there, surely the algae would be fine too?

 

[NatJ]

I do not know for sure, but I would think it is probably safe for the chickens to eat the algae.

Or you could just dump the algae somewhere on dry ground, as a mulch around trees or bushes or garden plants. That would be another way to make use of it, and it would still be out of the pond.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Thanks Nat! I don't like the idea of adding chemicals to the pond...even copper sulfate which is supposed to be safe. I'm looking for ideas to simply skim it off and use it in other ways. I hadn't considered using it in the garden but that sounds like a good idea!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I wonder if building a “rain garden” between the road and pond to slow/absorb the water before it reaches the pond would reduce the blooms and help with water quality in general.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

I agree- try and build a rain garden or 'soakaway' for the water to be absorbed into before it hits your pond. Many municipalities have grants and incentives for these projects.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I wonder if building a “rain garden” between the road and pond to slow/absorb the water before it reaches the pond would reduce the blooms and help with water quality in general.

We do have something KIND OF like that... My garden is between the storm drain and the pasture where the pond is located. IN order to keep it from washing out my garden, we dug a deflection ditch into a depression where the water pools up a few feet deep. It inevitably overflows this area and still drains downhill towards through the pasture to the pond...but I feel like this process still allows some filtering of the water. I don't think there is any way to stop the water altogether. The city drains the storm water from the entire road to the culvert that dumps on my property (there is a fight in regards to this....but so far they refuse to change it). It's a LOT of water.

 

[TJAnonymous]

OK, here's a picture showing the storm drain and the downhill slope to the pond. (I know I need to mow but it's been too wet!). Right in front of the bush on the left is the collection depression I was talking about. The 2nd picture shows water standing in this little pool.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Thanks for sharing the pictures!

Making the area between the drain bigger/deeper would help, but it’d be a lot of work obviously.

If you did go that approach, you’d want good soil/compost at the bottom to help absorb/filter the water and some water tolerant plants as well.

You came looking for answers on algae and got a landscape project! Sorry about that!

 

[TJAnonymous]

Thanks for sharing the pictures!

Making the area between the drain bigger/deeper would help, but it’d be a lot of work obviously.

If you did go that approach, you’d want good soil/compost at the bottom to help absorb/filter the water and some water tolerant plants as well.

You came looking for answers on algae and got a landscape project! Sorry about that!

I also came across this.... lol

https://algenair.com/blogs/news/the-benefits-of-algae-as-a-fertilizer

Now I'm thinking that I WANT the algae to grow.... We do have a big compost pile. Lots of animals (horses, goats, chickens, ducks, rabbit) that provide ample manure. I also use a lot of compost.... Since the cost of fertilizer is going lunar, I've been thinking of ways I can possibly fertilize my pasture with something natural. Beyond the garden as top priority, this looks like a potential method.... I can keep harvesting the algae, compost it, and spread it out on the pasture a section at a time.

 

[NatJ]

I can keep harvesting the algae, compost it, and spread it out on the pasture a section at a time.

You might not need to compost it.
It shouldn't burn your plants (the way fresh animal manure might.)
And it probably does not have very many terrestrial weed seeds (like pulled weeds or some animal manure might.)

I know it's fine to spread freshly-cut grass clippings, and I don't really see where algae would be much different, unless it glops together in a way that makes spreading difficult.