Freezing Grass Clippings for Winter Feed?

[Omniskies]

I read in a book that most of the nutrients a goose gets in the grass is from the juices. If that's true, could grass clippings from the spring be frozen and fed to geese through the winter?

How long would grass keep in the freezer before it loses its nutritional value or goes bad? Could regular grass be used or would it be better to use oat/wheat/etc grass?

 

[hatchcrazzzy]

i have geese and ducks you have to give them feed plus what they can find in the winter you might give them a little cracked corn in the winter only winter winter

 

[Sarree]

I read that you can put alfalfa cubes in water to make them soggy and feed that to you ducks/geese. I tried it though and didn't work for me.

FYI: My guinea fowl like to eat hay in the winter.

 

[Omniskies]

Yes, but is it possible to feed geese frozen grass clippings that have been put in the freezer months prior? Will it still have any sort of nutritional value?

 

[lilchick]

The chinese geese reside in horse pen and even sleep in the barn with them..They love the sweet feed that I give the horses! It has alfalfa pellets in it.
They also dig thru the flakes of hay and eat some of it too. Sweet feed is much cheaper than chicken feed and has cracked corn and oats in it which they like to eat.
I also give mine dog food as well as meat bird feed.

Don't know about the grass clipping.. seems like alot of trouble to go thru and you risk the chance of it molding. Have you considered buying bales of mixed grass and alfalfa hay and giving them a flake to pick thru?

 

[MagsC]

If you dry the grass clippings so they lose a lot of nutritional value? I dont know this for sure, but I would imagine freezing, they would retain more and it couldnt hurt to try it.

 

[silkiechicken]

Probably can, but wonder if they will become like soggy wet lettuice leaves after being frozen. Frozen can preserve nutrients for a short time, but for extended saving, you'd have to blanch it to remove the enzymes that break things down.

 

[DuckyBoys]

Fresh grass actually has more water content and therefore less nutritional value on a weight basis than dried grass. Or to put it simply - they need to eat more to get the same value.

Freezing will disrupt cellular components so I'm not sure if it would be a better choice, nutritionally speaking, than drying.

Just FYI - it is too late in the year to expect anything harvested right now to provide very much in the way of nutritional value. Late harvest grass (hay) is not so good.

Can't hurt to try, but I'd think a nice big bag of flock raiser would be much preferred by your geese.

 

[priszilla]

plant flats of a winter crop? winter rye? lettuces? duckweed or other aquatics in indoor aquariums?

 

[xke4]

My ducks get a head of leaf lettuce chopped finely about 4 times a week during the winter. The chickens get the stems chopped up. They love it. Be sure to offer grit along with their treats in the winter if they are not going outside. My chickens seldom venture outside......they are convinced that snow is lethal.