Kudzu?

[The Chicken Lady]

If you're interested in knowing why so many people are responding to the suggestion of kudzu with, "NOOOO!" take a peek here http://www.jjanthony.com/kudzu/houses.html and see what it can do. Quite shocking, isn't it?

 

[talos321]

I know about Kudzu being invasive. I live in South Carolina where I can see it every 1/2 mile or closer. I was wondering if anyone has made feed from it as most Asian countries do. I've seen a 3rd site about rethinking what to do with Kudzu and one of their suggestions is using it as high quality chicken feed. So, I do not have to cultivate it to get some. I can walk across the street where it threatens to overtake a school every year.

Yes Ncgnance it is highly edible by humans, all parts of kudzu are edible by humans. The roots can be ground into flour. The blooms can be made into glorious kudzu jelly (this is very delicious as I've had some). A delicacy in japan is deep frying the leaves into a potato chip type snack. It is high in protein from 18%-22%.

The listing on the alternate ways to control kudzu:
Harvest For Livestock Feed (Poultry, Cows, Goats, Horses) Only when dry.
Edible by humans (All Parts)
Makes a higher quality ethanol than corn
Harvest the above ground parts and decompose to make high quality fertilizer which is high in nitrogen.

 

[jnjross]

Quote:
what!! you mean we got free gas growing on every hill in south.
yeah deer love kudzu

 

[WikkitGateFarm]

Yeah, it was brought to the US to be cattle forage, then we found out it would eat any cow that stood still for more than five minutes.

Kudzu honey is some of the best I've had.

Wasn't poor palatability one of the big problems? I mean, aside from devouring mountains and such. Still, if the birds will eat it...

 

[TheChicInnKeeper]

I have a friend who gathers the blooms from the kudzu and makes jelly!! It tastes alot like grape jelly but it takes an enormous amount of flowers to make.

I wish we COULD find some wonderful uses for the plague of south!!

Cyndi

 

[crtrlovr]

Quote:

 

[smoothmule]

I am assuming you already have kudzu in your area if you're asking about feeding it. I haven't read anything about feeding to chickens but it has been cut and baled into hay for other livestock. It's not really cost efficient to make the hay but I read about it looking into possible hay alternatives with the hay shortage for the horses. If I were closer to the south, I would have liked to have tried the kudzu hay.
Cattle can be allowed to graze it. I don't really know why there aren't more people looking into a way to use it if they can't control it, and they can't control it.

That said, I don't know why it could not be fed as greens to chickens but I never thought about it before. Mine are mostly free range and I'd not thought about it before but now I'm wondering what plants are noxious to chickens.

Does anyone have a list of noxious or plants that are poisonous to poultry?

 

[dlhunicorn]

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PS052
Toxicity To Poutry of Common Weed Seeds

 

[talos321]

smoothmule it is very cost efficient for me to make the hay as the school across the street bales it up due to it invading a school yard every summer. The guy over the grounds there told me that he would be happy to let me have it as he bales it up and takes it to the city dump. All I have to do is have a place for it to dry and I do have an empty garden shed. In the "dirty south" which has been 90-108 degrees during the summer last year for a couple of weeks at a time I'm sure it will dry out very fast.

 

[Chicken Nugget]

I've heard of plenty of people around here who get goats just so they can eat all their kudzu. I have it growing on my back fence and have to constantly cut it back. Haven't tried feeding it to my chickens!