Cool TREAT free to make

[1birdlady]

It would seem that acorns are not poisonous...check this out:

http://www.selfsufficientish.com/acorns.htm

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/birds/info/chicken.shtml
Excerpt from above:
"Diet: Chickens have a varied diet. They eat insects, worms, fruit, seeds, acorns, grains, slugs, snails, and many other foods. They have a well-developed gizzard (a part of the stomach that contains tiny stones) that grinds up their food."

I have not had personal experience with acorns and our girls, but may try some cracked and see what they think.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

If acorns were poisonous, I would be dead then. When I was younger, my friend and I would smash open acorns from his Oak tree and eat the meat inside. It did taste a little bitter, but I'm not dead (obviously). We stopped eating them after we found little grubs inside LOL

 

[JestersEye]

Hmmm, I never thought to break open acorns to feed to our chickens. I did wonder if the horse or our two pygmy goats ever ate them, though. I might look around tomorrow to collect some, if they've started falling in our yard. Thanks for the idea!

 

[loverOFchickens]

My goats also eat them whole! Some of the goats like them better than others.

 

[Maureen&chickens]

Yesterday I was watching my RIR roo trying to fit one in his mouth whole. Very amusing to watch though I'm sure if he got it in he would have choked to death!

 

[HorseFeathers]

Quote:
Actually...

Last fall, we moved into this new house with TONS of acorns all over the place. The girls down the street, the elder being my age, and I quickly became friends. Their mother is Indian and they do lots of interesting ethnic things. Our project was acorn bread. We collected all the acorns we could find, smashed them open to get the nuts, and boiled them. That took out the toxins. The water, with the 'toxins' in it, actually has medicinal properties that can soothe bug bites, poison ivy, and rashes (I have a little jar of it left). We then dried the acorn nuts, ground them into flour, and baked bread and muffins. They were delicious.

Yup. Just another random story of HorseFeathers's life...

(edited because I didn't BACK muffins... I BAKE them...)

 

[StupidBird]

oooh, oooh, I know this one!
Different species of oaks have various levels of tannic acid in the acorns; thus some are more prized for food value by historic peoples. English conquerers destroyed the 'sacred oak groves' of the 'pagans' as part of the invasions. American archeaologists still find huge caches of acorns still soaking buried in bogs. History is cool.
Junkmanme do you have the holly oak? Saw those in Arizona. You probably have Mesquite beans...I think you can eat those and feed chickens with 'em, but please confirm.

 

[Junkmanme]

Hi "Stupid Bird" (odd name) (difficult to type.....)

We have a "scrub oak" around here that gets as big as a dwarf fruit tree. (Maybe it's a "holly oak"?, but I've never heard it called anything but "scrub")
There are some mesquite, but not as plentiful as many parts of Southern AZ. We have pinon pine here...GOOD pine-nuts, but very small things.
This is "high altitude" NW New Mexico here. We are at 6500 ft elevation on the "high desert", but a drive of less than an hour from some nice pines. When I was young, an area one hour south grew pinto beans. Another area one hour east grew carrots. I grow all these and much more in my garden, but mostly rely on "short-season varieties".

No really nice "hardwood" deciduous trees around here. Many Pecans grow 250 miles south of here. (Much warmer temperatures there).

I've NEVER tried eating mesquite beans...mostly considered a "mess". HOW would someone cook them? for human consumption? or what?

Another subject: I think Americans are getting more like their pagan ancestors in England (the Picts) because there are more and more tattoos visible everyday. And in good weather, there is less and less clothing apparent. (I remember when a "thong" was a rubber-thing that you put on your feet when you entered a semi-public shower!) Ha-Ha!

It's been San Francisco weather here for 2 days ( rainy-misty). Good for us ....we've had a very dry Summer.

-Junkmanme-

 

[wawafiveseven]

wanna send some to Hawaii?