Home Feeding Ideas and Solutions Discussion Thread

[Zanna]

One source I encountered said not to feed fruit to laying hens (due to taste of the eggs??? I believe it was in the same list as garlic, onions and chives). Any experience?

My free-range egg layer flock have access to wild plums, apples, blackberries, etc. They gorge on them in season and I have not noticed any off taste to the eggs, just a smaller feed bill and some runnier poops

 

[Kikiriki]

The leaves of the mulberry tree can provide summer shade and fresh food for summer, or dried fodder in winter. Chicken, horses, pigs, ruminants, cattle... Weeping mulberry is appropriate for small yards, but get the fruiting variety rather than ornamental so you get the berries!

Mulberry is a great tree, the berries are delicious. If you get them, you will need a male and a female in order to get the fruit. But look for the native mulberry, Morus rubra L. (red mulberry). It is native in the eastern half of the US. Avoid the white mulberry, it is an invasive species.

No, they only require male female to form fertile seeds in the fruit. The fruit happens on trees that are not the ornamental variety. My folks had just one small weeping mulberry and there were no other trees anywhere in the area: it fruited every year with enough for birds, squirrels, and us! In reference to the posts about layers, I have never seen any information that links problems with layers eating fruit in general. I imagine a problem can occur if there is something wrong with the fruit, like it is spoiled, or even that some specific fruit might be problematic. I saw an information type site that says mulberry leaf and branches can be toxic (that it has a white milky sap) versus actual studies about using leaf as feed, and photos of the leaves being fed to a very happy and unpoisoned giraffe at a zoo. The APCA lists mulberry (entire plant) as non toxic to horses, dogs and cats (the only animals they have made plant lists for). Clearly there is mixed up information out there. The guy who does the people foraging books claims that mulberry leaf can cause people headaches, hallucinations, and stomach upset, but he does not cite a source for that. A japanese study looked at a fungus that grows on mulberry leaves that does produce toxins, so this might be why there are varying reports on toxicity. Mulberry fruits have a very short usable life once they ripen. They are sweet and wet so they grow moldy very fast, which could be a problem if fallen fruit sits for a while before animals can get to it. Some fruits will ferment on their own, so animals might even get drunk off over ripe fruit. I conclude, for my own chickens, that the tree needs to monitored for health in regard to fungal growth. I will be planting the tree so it overhangs the run, and the chickens can have fruit and leaves as supplement to their regular food.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I read somewhere, that they dried the mulberry leaves in the shade and then fed them (in one instance). Perhaps this was to dry the sap from the leaves? I think it was the link that someone provided here but I'm not sure. I may have looked further.

 

[cluckcrazy]

I love this thread! I hope that I was reading it right, and this would be a good diet for a flock:


Scraps from a bunch of local restaurants and food co-ops.
Let the chickens in a very large pen-type thing, so they can forage for food.
Feeding the chickens corn and duckweed.
Topped off with a piece of bread for about 6-10 hens.


Could someone either confirm that this a an okay diet, or reply telling me what is wrong with it?

 

[RaZ]

No, they only require male female to form fertile seeds in the fruit. The fruit happens on trees that are not the ornamental variety. My folks had just one small weeping mulberry and there were no other trees anywhere in the area: it fruited every year with enough for birds, squirrels, and us!

Shoot, I'll have to go back to my books and verify my facts. I hate when my memory fails me like that. Must be getting that "sometimers" condition.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I love this thread! I hope that I was reading it right, and this would be a good diet for a flock:


Scraps from a bunch of local restaurants and food co-ops.
Let the chickens in a very large pen-type thing, so they can forage for food.
Feeding the chickens corn and duckweed.
Topped off with a piece of bread for about 6-10 hens.


Could someone either confirm that this a an okay diet, or reply telling me what is wrong with it?

Sounds to me like it might be ok... except you'll need to provide lots of oyster shell for them. Your profile doesn't state where you live so depending on that, you should probably provide some kind of greens for them (when there isn't any on the ground) and some kind of animal protein as well, when there isn't any on the ground... depending on your seasons and how severe they are.

 

[cluckcrazy]

Okay. I live in Massachusetts. I forgot to mention that I would also give them rice and oats about once a day. I would also try to have some sort of chicken garden for them. I wish that dogs could live on just scrap, shells, and duckweed!

 

[Kassaundra]

Okay. I live in Massachusetts. I forgot to mention that I would also give them rice and oats about once a day. I would also try to have some sort of chicken garden for them. I wish that dogs could live on just scrap, shells, and duckweed!

In Massechusetts your duckweed season will be limited right, only about 6 ish months of the year, what would be your protien source for the rest of the year?

 

[cluckcrazy]

I don't know? Maybe I could give them yogurt mixed in with meat (probably ham) and worms?

 

[Erika123]

For that trouble, maybe growing it in the basement or heated coop might work. I may try that. Might need an extra light source then. (from Manitoba)