Kudzu and chickens

[U_Stormcrow]

Wow! I've never grown any !! Thanks!

A single plant will, eventually, take over an 8x8 planter bed! (Admittedly, it takes a lot of years).

 

[SunflowerKing]

I bought a couple acres 20 + years ago and hired a guy with heavy equipment to level a place for a home. They took every tree and shrub on it but the Japanese Knotweed came back .Even using black plastic to block the sun didn't kill it out but it slowed it down.

I still want to buy kudzu if anyone has access to it. Otherwise I’ll just drive down a highway with a shovel and some planters. Probably going to be what I have to do.

 

[Dlynns]

Anyone???

Chickens can eat the leaves, vine tips, roots, and flowers of kudzu as part of their normal diet without any adverse effects. Kudzu vines, seeds, and seed pods are not fit for chickens to eat. Kudzu contains 22-23% crude protein, perfect for the healthy growth of chickens.

11 years later I am just seeing Ur inquiry! Are you still raising chickens? How is it going? Cumfrey & purslane are also good for them!

 

[Mommysongbird]

I still want to buy kudzu if anyone has access to it. Otherwise I’ll just drive down a highway with a shovel and some planters. Probably going to be what I have to do.

You don't want Kudzu!!!! Whatever you do, don't get it started, it will get out of control so quickly, you'll wish you never seen it.

 

[beautifulflutterby2000]

So should we cut it up (the vines are sooooo long) or just give it to them vine and all??

Like I said, if I can figure out how to make baskets or wreaths or anything else from this stuff then I would and just give them the leaves.

I used to pull the leaves off the vine for my sheep. I only fed them the soft tips of the vines.

As far as making baskets, I've read that you harvest the vine in the fall when they leaves are mostly off. Dry them. Then soak them when you're ready to use them for basket weaving. Don't try to soak green vines bc they will decompose, revealing the inner fiber (which is used for weaving clothe).

 

[RhondaHeim]

I was reading up online about kudzu for my chickens and for medicinal uses for us, as well.
I've been happy to learned that it's IT IS great for chickens and us, but there's not a terrible lot of organized research out there, but some side effects can be noted "in high amounts," but there's far greater good things to be had, too.
I would definitely "START LOW AND GO SLOW," as we say in the Nursing field. And it can be confused with poison ivy -- so be careful about that. SHALOM!

 

[Chellyboo]

In my experience, cows will eat it only if they can't find any grass. I don't think it is in anyway "poison".

We live by a pasture and the neighbors cows consistently broke out at the place where the kudzu touches their fence. We noticed no kudzu grew on their side...so we thought they must be keeping it eaten. They did break out once at another location when the kudzu was dead. Lol. The owner moved the cows to another pasture, sadly, we sure enjoyed watching them in their pasture...and we understand it was not good for them to repeatedly escape. Maybe they just found that the kudzu was a good place to get out. Thanks fur sharing.