Kale

[nccountrygirl]

I bought my birds some raw kale, they won't touch it, should I have cooked it first. I'd hate a 4.00 bag go to waste.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

If they are already free ranging they may not want or need it. Try hanging it up if they are cooped. They seem to like to pick at things at about head high.
Kale is wonderful in vitamins and nutrients. We feed it to our Guinea pigs for tons of nutritional aspects and it has a nice level of calcium in it.
I notice our chickens will eat the Lambs Quarter that grows around the barn instead of picking at the oyster shell since Lambs Quarter is high in calcium and they digest it much better. Once they have cleaned it out though, they go back to the oyster shell.
You don't want to cook the kale. That takes out all the good stuff for them. Though they may then just eat it to have some greens!

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
That's really interesting. Maybe chickens aren't as dumb as I sometimes think that they are. Then again, my little silkie, Lady Victoria, is a certified chicken genius; she can talk and do clown acts.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Chickens are only as dumb as they want us to think they are!

 

[speckledhen]

Mine practically take my fingers when I feed them raw kale. Most of the time, I chop it up and put it in a huge plastic bowl then go out and throw handfuls to the various groups. Kale is a wonderful food, full of iron and lots of B vitamins. If yours wont eat it raw, do cook it. Mine will eat cooked squash/pumpkin but wont touch it raw, but I gave them a bowl of canned greens once and they looked at me like I was trying to poison them, LOL.

 

[PurpleChicken]

We love kale and have some growing in the garden. The chickens may take
a while to get used to it but they will. Chop it up.

Our bunnies love it too.

 

[JennsPeeps]

If your chickens eat yogurt, shred some kale and mix it into the yogurt. That's a good way to intro new foods - via yogurt!

I've got a bumper crop of chard. Need to harvest, freeze, and feed birds with it! Wonder if my parents would use it?

Hrmmm...

 

[Riverdale]

Quote:
I would hesitate on feeding bunnies Kale, being a brassia and all (the gas factor wink)

 

[nccountrygirl]

I chopped it up and just now took it out there and they attacked it. So I now know that the need smaller pieces. Thanks Y'all