Feeding uncured olives

[John Warner]

Hello. I'm John, new to the forum. We have 20 productive hens and nearly 20 chicks that should be laying in 4 or 5 months. We sell eggs along with flowers, plants and vegetables at the farmers market.

We have a number of olive trees that should start producing this year and when they get larger we would never be able to cure all the olives. I'm wondering if anyone has had experience feeding uncured olives or knows of or has access to an reliable source that might give a verdict on this question.

Acorns, like olives are high in oil content and I have a good source that says they can be fed, even with high tannin content, to up to 20% of ration. Possibly olives could be fed in a similar way.

Thanks,

John Warner
http://www.wholesystemsag.org

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

there is something about green olives that is not good for chickens
BESURE THE PITS WILL GO THRU THE HOLE TO THE CROP OKAY OR MAY CAUSE CROP BOUND CHICKENS
you may want to wash them as they have a substance on them

from

Olive - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Olives are harvested at the green stage or left to ripen to a rich purple colour .... Green olives and black olives are washed thoroughly in water to remove ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive - 91k - Cached - Similar pages


Cultivation and uses
For more details on this topic, see Olive (fruit).

An example of black olives
A selection of olives in a market in Tel Aviv, IsraelThe olive tree has been cultivated since ancient times as a source of olive oil, fine wood, olive leaf, and olives for consumption. The naturally bitter fruit is typically subjected to fermentation or cured with lye or brine to make it more palatable.

Green olives and black olives are washed thoroughly in water to remove oleuropein, a bitter carbohydrate. Sometimes they are also soaked in a solution of food grade sodium hydroxide in order to accelerate the process.
Green olives are allowed to ferment before being packed in a brine solution. American black ("California") olives are not fermented, which is why they taste milder than green olives.

It is not known when olives were first cultivated for harvest. Among the earliest evidence for the domestication of olives comes from the Chalcolithic Period archaeological site of Teleilat Ghassul in what is today modern Jordan.

Farmers in ancient times believed olive trees would not grow well if planted more than a short distance from the sea; Theophrastus gives 300 stadia (55.6 km) as the limit. Modern experience does not always confirm this, and, though showing a preference for the coast, it has long been grown further inland in some areas with suitable climates, particularly in the southwestern Mediterranean (Iberia, northwest Africa) where winters are mild.


Olive plantation in Andalucia, SpainOlives are now cultivated in many regions of the world with Mediterranean climates, such as South Africa, Chile, Australia, the Mediterranean Basin, Israel, Palestinian Territories and California and in areas with temperate climates such as New Zealand, under irrigation in the Cuyo region in Argentina which has a desert climate. They are also grown in the Córdoba Province, Argentina, which has a temperate climate with rainy summers and dry winters (Cwa).[10] The climate in Argentina changes the external characteristics of the plant but the fruit keeps its original characteristics.[11]

Considerable research supports the health-giving benefits of consuming olives, olive leaf and olive oil (see external links below for research results). The olive tree provides leaves, fruit and oil. Olive leaves are used in medicinal teas.

Olives are now being looked at for use as a renewable energy source, using waste produced from the olive plants as an energy source that produces 2.5 times the energy generated by burning the same amount of wood. The smoke released has no negative impact on neighbors or the environment, and the ash left in the stove can be used for fertilizing gardens and plants. The process has been patented in the Middle East and the US.[12]

any questions email me

 

[tls_ranch]

I live on a 40 acre olive "ranch". My horses loved to eat the raw green olives even though they are very,very bitter. I had one horse that would chase the tractor and harvest bin trailer through the orchard to eat the olives.

I have also heard that olive leaf and olive leaf tea can cure every disorder under the sun LOL. An ex-co worker sweared by olive tea and feeding it to his livestock. He even claimed it prevented West nile and other diseases. Here is a link to some people claiming olive leaf tea as a cure all. It's kinda interesting to read about it as I grew up around olives.

http://www.olivetea.com/index.html

I also noticed that all the migratory birds in the fall (1000's of them) swarm the orchard looking for the fallen naturally fermented olives left over from harvest. As my chicks are housed under two 75 year old olive trees, I guess I will find out soon enough if chickens can eat them.

 

[Sch3Dana]

Any update? Did they eat the uncured olives?