Duckweed. Is it safe?

[laircy]

I've been thinking of cutting costs on feed. Currently I'm taking care of a coop of 23 chickens. They eat about 50 pounds a week, or $19. But I heard duckweed is healthy and can replace about 25% of their feed. However, I have also heard there might be contaminants such as heavy metals in duckweed. There is a recycled wastewater pond on the campus, covered in duckweed. So I thought, cool! free food! But might it have heavy metals in it? Is there any way to know, like chemical testing?

 

[laircy]

Bump. I've already been getting their water all year from a pond on campus. A different one though, not the wastewater lagoon. They are fine. Is there anything about waste treated water that would add heavy metals, or would it come from the earth if anywhere?

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Duckweed is a great nutritious food source, your birds would enjoy it. There is more nutritional value than say grass.

Duckweed is a very good purification plant. Yes it can and will remove heavy metal ions from water and concentrate in the plant tissue.

If the water source is considered fairly pure...should not be a problem.