Central CA Acorns - Are They Poisonous?

[debid]

Quote:
Um, none of it, actually. I reiterated something you'd already said but I wasn't actually suggesting that you were going to prepare acorn mash for your chickens. Now that I read it again, I can see how you got there but I assure you, I was merely annoyed about the article.

I suppose you'll REALLY be annoyed at the second article I've been researching, then.

Why? Does it also make claims but lack source citations?

I'm all for information sharing and love it when someone comes across something that I haven't heard yet. What I don't love is the amount of misinformation out there.

 

[dacjohns]

Quote:
I suppose you'll REALLY be annoyed at the second article I've been researching, then.

Why? Does it also make claims but lack source citations?

I'm all for information sharing and love it when someone comes across something that I haven't heard yet. What I don't love is the amount of misinformation out there.

Watch out Lynn, I don't think you want to get debid and I riled up.

 

[janinepeters]

I don't think you need to worry at all about your chickens eating acorns. Unlike humans, many animals can break down the tanins, and as someone else said, chickens are probably more like turkeys than like people, and can handle the tannins. And, given that I have never heard of any animal dying of an OD on acorns, I personally would feel comfortable assuming that they taste bad enough to any species that cannot break down tannins, to discourage consumption.

But just for general info about oaks:

There are many species of oak. The two main groups are white oaks and red oaks. Generally, those in the white oak family are lower in tannins and taste mildly sweet to slightly bitter. Valley oak is a white oak, and therefore lower in tannins. By valley oak, I am referring to Quercus lobata, the California white oak.

However, you called it "valley live oak". There are many species of live oak, and I have never heard of "valley live oak". Some live oaks are in the white oak family, but others are in the red oak family, which means higher in tannins, higher toxicity to those who cannot break down tannins, and more strongly bitter taste. Some live oaks are in a group intermediate between the white and the red group in terms of tannin levels, and several of these grow in southwestern states.

To get a rough idea of tannin levels in your "valley live oak", you should try to identify the Latin name. But then again, I would leave it to the chickens to decide whether they should eat them.

 

[LynnS]

Quote:
I suppose you'll REALLY be annoyed at the second article I've been researching, then.

Why? Does it also make claims but lack source citations?

I'm all for information sharing and love it when someone comes across something that I haven't heard yet. What I don't love is the amount of misinformation out there.

It might be best to read the Cornell study -- especially in light of your comment about "misinformation". My post was reiterating scientific analysis from Cornell. Seems ironic that so many jumped on the same ole bandwagon without checking out the full blog post.

The reality is that chickens just don't run around pecking on acorn shells -- well maybe some sad free-ranging, half-starved chicken might, but none I've ever witnessed. But that wasn't the subject of my post. It has been amusing, though, to watch people jump to conclusions, freely criticize, and yet be completely wrong -- simply because they didn't bother to check the information for themselves. But then, most of them are the same people who are actually collecting dropped acorns and using them as the sole feed for small backyard flocks just to claim how "independent" they are in the suburbs. LMAO....

 

[LynnS]

Quote:
Why? Does it also make claims but lack source citations?

I'm all for information sharing and love it when someone comes across something that I haven't heard yet. What I don't love is the amount of misinformation out there.

Watch out Lynn, I don't think you want to get debid and I riled up.

Oh I see how it goes. Public slamming is approved but the minute it's put into check, the threats come out?

Yup....that's fair. I should've figured it works that way.

 

[janinepeters]

Lynn, just scanned the interesting Cornell study. Also, I now recall an article (in Backyard Chickens?) in which someone mentioned that their chickens free range in the woods with their pig. The chickens of course could not open the shells, but foraged for the crumbs and crushed ones that the pig dropped while chewing. Neither chickens nor pig became ill. But those chickens had access to layer feed as well, so would not be pressed to overdo it with acorns.

 

[merry hens]

Hi there,

I live in northern California and we have plenty of oaks (blue oaks and valley oaks). The chickens don't eat them, mainly because they are too large and tough to be opened (even when green), and there are always better things to eat. Not sure if chickens really taste things before they eat it, but acorns are VERY bitter. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Native birds eat them, so I don't see why they would be poisonous to poultry.

If your oaks are green and leafy in the winter, they are probably interior live oaks. If not (shed their leaves in the winter) they are probably blue oaks or valley oaks. Of the two, valley oaks prefer moister places along waterways. Blue oaks like dry rocky soil.

 

[dacjohns]

Quote:
Watch out Lynn, I don't think you want to get debid and I riled up.

Oh I see how it goes. Public slamming is approved but the minute it's put into check, the threats come out?

Yup....that's fair. I should've figured it works that way.

Lynn, did you miss the wink. I was trying to be lighthearted. Guess my attempt at humor fizzled.

 

[LynnS]

Sorry -- I have the smilies turned off. I gotcha now!