Inoculant on clover seeds

[Kelleysclucks]

Hello chicken experts

I have just seeded my garden with crimson clover seeds. These seeds have an inoculant of clay and peat moss???. The seeds are white from the coating. Obviously the chickens will eat these seeds, so I need to know if the inoculant is toxic. I called the feed store and was told that" they did not Think it was toxic." However my chickens can die from poisoning only once. I do not have the garden fenced, yet.
Does anyone KNOW if this coating is poisonous or not. Please and Thank you.

 

[azygous]

This question of yours has enabled me to learn something new and fascinating. For example, did you know that the largest network of mycorrhizal fungi resides in the Pacific Northwest and weighs several hundred tons and is considered to be the largest living creature on the planet?

The ingredients in the inoculant are benign. Clay and peat moss are safe for chickens. The mycorrhizal fungi that it is meant to encourage grows in soil beneath the surface and is common everywhere. Chickens come into contact with it all the time as they busily excavate for worms and bugs.

While nothing would happen to your chickens if they ate the clover seeds coated with the inoculant, it would reduce considerably your expected clover come spring as your chickens will reduce the germination rate due to there being far less seed than your planted.

As with any cover crop you plant, you need to fence it off from the chickens until it gets well established.

 

[newshound]

I wondered about that fungus as I think it is growing under my duck pool and I was afraid it would hurt them, I had just seen it on a video.