hemp for chickens?

[Walrus Eggman]

Hello just after any thoughts and comments about this story that was on the abc and anything about hemp for chickens?

ABC story

 

[igorsMistress]

Thanks for the link! Interesting read.

I give a good sized handful of hemp seed to my flock once a week as a treat. They love em with a few meal worms and dry oatmeal.

The beetle green on my Australorp is amazing, and in my roos tail as well.

Been feeding this to birds for as long as I can remember. Wouldn't hurt to add the seed to what you're currently feeding.

 

[Patinas]

Interesting article! I already feed my flock flax meal as part of their treat mash that I make but always looking for healthy things to add to it. I was on Amazon the other day shopping for bulk flax meal and saw the ground hemp but wasn't sure if it should be fed to chickens. Now I know!!

 

[Patinas]

So as stated in my previous post I've been adding flax meal to the treat mash I make for my chickens but wasn't sure about adding ground hemp. Well I just did some quick research on ground flax and was shocked to find that flax seeds contain an amount of cyanide!! I had no idea! People add it to their smoothies all the time!

Several of the articles I read stated that large amounts of flax are not good for poultry or other livestock for that matter. One article said 11lbs of flax soaked in water could kill a horse! Apparently the moisture is what releases the cyanide. I also read that flax can cause liver issues in poultry if fed larger amounts over time and can affect egg flavor. I believe the article said if flax was 28% or more their diet.

On the other hand, I read some other forums where people said they've been feeding flax to their flock for years with no ill effects claiming glossier feathers and higher Omega-3 levels in the eggs (although I don't know how they substantiated the Omega 3 claim). They also didn't elaborate on how much flax they were feeding or how often so not much help or reassurance that it's safe at certain percentages.

I don't feed my flock a lot of it, maybe just shy of 1/8 of a cup in the mash I make for them but now I'm not going to give it to them at all and do more research on ground hemp and chia as a healthier addition to their diet.

 

[Walrus Eggman]

oh wow that is scary about the flax and cyanide (good to know!)

So as stated in my previous post I've been adding flax meal to the treat mash I make for my chickens but wasn't sure about adding ground hemp. Well I just did some quick research on ground flax and was shocked to find that flax seeds contain an amount of cyanide!! I had no idea! People add it to their smoothies all the time!

Several of the articles I read stated that large amounts of flax are not good for poultry or other livestock for that matter. One article said 11lbs of flax soaked in water could kill a horse! Apparently the moisture is what releases the cyanide. I also read that flax can cause liver issues in poultry if fed larger amounts over time and can affect egg flavor. I believe the article said if flax was 28% or more their diet.

On the other hand, I read some other forums where people said they've been feeding flax to their flock for years with no ill effects claiming glossier feathers and higher Omega-3 levels in the eggs (although I don't know how they substantiated the Omega 3 claim). They also didn't elaborate on how much flax they were feeding or how often so not much help or reassurance that it's safe at certain percentages.

I don't feed my flock a lot of it, maybe just shy of 1/8 of a cup in the mash I make for them but now I'm not going to give it to them at all and do more research on ground hemp and chia as a healthier addition to their diet.

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[barn206]

Years ago we gave our pigeons hemp seed. It made the birds very flighty. We didn't give it often (once in a while) but the birds flew to the pins after they ate it.

 

[centrarchid]

In terms of relative amounts, no single feed-stuff I use exceeds exceeds 10% of diet. Exceptions are corn (maize), soybeans, and oats that each are not allowed to exceed 25% of the total diet. Feed-stuffs, not thoroughly vetted or otherwise known to contain toxins, are kept lower but still included but may not be fed on a sustained basis. A good example with my formulation of use of alfalfa pellets that contain salt. The pellets are fed for only a day or two at a time with several days between mixing it in.

 

[Digby57]

I was given this information by the grower that shipped me the hemp seed I'm feeding. The variety is Finola, for those that are interested in that level of detail as discussed in the file "House_2010 Hempseed protein digestibility.pdf"

 

[Titan Farm]

I use Hemp Seed in my feed mix and been doing so for about 15 years now. I never did liked flax/linseed and to much flax can and will harm your birds.

(Some side effects of feeding too much Flax/ linseed to poultry are; liver hemorrhage, reduced feed intake, loss of bird size, loss of egg and yolk size, off or fish smelling eggs.)

 

[silky ma]

Hemp is an industrial product! I will not be feeding it to my brood.