Fresh kelp & seaweed? Anyone feeding their chickens with it?

[Kwyjibo]

I live on a beach in the pacific northwest (Puget Sound). Lots of fresh kelp & other seaweeds out there. LOTS!

It's beautiful stuff. Very fresh & crisp, with lovely colors & textures.

Anyway, seaweeds are an excellent source of nutrition. I've read a lot about seaweed-based products in prepared, supplement form, but is anyone out there feeding their chickens fresh, off-the-beach seaweeds?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Kelp and seaweed are great nutrition for us, but I would be worried about the salt content. Maybe if you wash it really well first. I'm interested to see other opinion on this, even though I don't live anywhere near the beach.

 

[Kwyjibo]

Dear Howfunkyisurchicken,

There are several good threads on the board dealing with kelp products. You're right about the salt - that seems to come up often. Can't remember the consensus. You read enough about what chickens can and can't eat you start to wonder how they make do free ranging on a farm without constant attention to what they're eating.

I'm not holding my breath for a response. I don't imagine too may people out there have fresh kelp available to them.

 

[bert383]

I live in Maine and feed mine fresh seaweed and dry it for winter use as well the salt content is not a bad thing but you can rinse it before you dry it if you want to

 

[tierney]

I brought some seaweed from the beach and soaked it in water for a day, and then rinsed it before giving it to my girls. Anyone have any ideas as to how much is appropriate? I like the idea of drying it for winter.

 

[Ra_]

I think there may be significant differences depending on the species of seaweed?
I use kelp extract to grow sunflower microgreens for me and my birds.
This patch is about ready. Should be over 10 pounds. Cost me about $5.
I sprouted them and then planted them 8 days ago.

 

[Nsterui]

I live on a beach in the pacific northwest (Puget Sound). Lots of fresh kelp & other seaweeds out there. LOTS!

It's beautiful stuff. Very fresh & crisp, with lovely colors & textures.

Anyway, seaweeds are an excellent source of nutrition. I've read a lot about seaweed-based products in prepared, supplement form, but is anyone out there feeding their chickens fresh, off-the-beach seaweeds?

California here. The Kelp is nice here. Rinsed it and soaked it, put it in an old blender.

They weren't so interested in it until I sprinkled some crumble in and mixed it up.

The younger chickens seemed to like it more than the oldies. Maybe it's a about familiarity. But they did enjoy it all eventually.

 

[MaineCoaster]

I live in Maine and feed mine fresh seaweed and dry it for winter use as well the salt content is not a bad thing but you can rinse it before you dry it if you want to

Same. Feeding un-dried Bladderwort seaweed with kitchen scraps, with seed and oyster shell scratch. Not sure how much to give, but follow the general scratch “rule”, no more than can be eaten in 20 minutes. Cut the seaweed into 1 - 2” long pieces and everybody seems to gobble it right up. Anyone else have thoughts on amounts (see 5 - 10% of diet, but think that is dried/pulverized)?