Drying greens for winter feed

[coberdor]

I was wondering if anyone else dries their summer greens to add to the chicken's food in winter?
I dry my swiss chard, beet greens & kohlorabi leaves from my organic garden to add them to my pastas and to the dog food I make for two of my dogs. I decided to crush these and added them to their food. They loved it.

I'll definitely be drying more of these next year for them. The kohlorabi leaves taste like cabbage, since it is related to the cabbage. I'll have to try the stevia that I grow. I bet they'll love that too! Hmm, I hadn't thought of feeding them that until I was typing this post.

Carmel

 

[rigagirl]

sounds like a good idea, how do you dry them? is it worth doing? are the that good for the chickens?

 

[coberdor]

I use a dehydrator. They dry in a couple of hours, so very little of the nutrients are lost. You can dry them in the sun too if you don't have a dehydrator. Using a hot car, closed up in the sun works well. You can spread the washed, spun, chopped leaves out on cookie trays on the dashboard or on the seats.

I started drying the greens for myself, to add to pasta dishes and soups in winter. It's difficult and expensive to find organic greens here in Ohio in winter. I soon had friends asking for them after I gave them samples to try in their cooking.

I thought that I'd try it with my chickens and they loved it. Now I'm thinking of other things I can dry for them that they like, like fresh clover, alfalfa and even things like beet tops.

Carmel

 

[rigagirl]

thanks for the info, i may try it

 

[coberdor]

If you don't have a dehydrator, look on craigslist, garage sales and thrift stores. I use mine alot. I dry tomatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, corn, apples, bananas, strawberries, peppers, just about anything. It's a great way to preserve garden produce and greatly reduces the amount of room needed for storage.

 

[momofdrew]

Quote:
Now that's a good way of making use of the car on those hot summer days!!!

 

[KnowhereCanyonRanch]

I was wondering if anyone else dries their summer greens to add to the chicken's food in winter?
I dry my swiss chard, beet greens & kohlorabi leaves from my organic garden to add them to my pastas and to the dog food I make for two of my dogs. I decided to crush these and added them to their food. They loved it.

I'll definitely be drying more of these next year for them. The kohlorabi leaves taste like cabbage, since it is related to the cabbage. I'll have to try the stevia that I grow. I bet they'll love that too! Hmm, I hadn't thought of feeding them that until I was typing this post.

Carmel

Hi Carmel... We're in Colorado and dry wild forage for the hens to enjoy all winter. Biggest free crops are sweet clover, wild evening primrose, dandelion, thistle rosettes and wild plantain, barley and alfalfa. Wire bunches together; hang upside down in the greenhouse a few days, then stash in totes. Free food all year on our 40 acres.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Look into how cattle and dairy farmers use silage for winter feed. It ferments, increases the food value and makes even course greens palatable. Basically a plastic lined trench. Might be able to just bag the green stuff and stick it in the basement till winter.

 

[all4children]

Hi Carmel... We're in Colorado and dry wild forage for the hens to enjoy all winter. Biggest free crops are sweet clover, wild evening primrose, dandelion, thistle rosettes and wild plantain, barley and alfalfa. Wire bunches together; hang upside down in the greenhouse a few days, then stash in totes. Free food all year on our 40 acres.

SO smart! I just harvested the last of my garden and I am over run with beautiful swiss chard, beat greens and kale. I was JUST wondering if I could hang them in bunches in my green house to dry to feed them in the winter, then saw your comment. Thanks!! Great idea to store in totes after dry!

 

[Altairsky]

Look into how cattle and dairy farmers use silage for winter feed. It ferments, increases the food value and makes even course greens palatable. Basically a plastic lined trench. Might be able to just bag the green stuff and stick it in the basement till winter.

Not everything can be turned into silage. It must be high in carbs like corn and we also add yeasts to start the correct fermentation. Placing random greens into bags will most likely turn them into bags of rotting stuff