new research debunks trad views on nutrition

[Geena]

Really? We had sheep and goats and didn't have such problems.
The West Country hillsides will be full of sheep soon grazing on spring grass with a sheep dog or two being their only company. They'll stay there throughout the summer.

I believe much depends on what kind of grass, how lush it is, what they ate over the winter etc. Horses can founder on spring grass as well.

 

[Folly's place]

One of my mares did that, she got into an adjacent field accidently. She survived, happily, but not a fun experience.
Mary

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Really? We had sheep and goats and didn't have such problems.
The West Country hillsides will be full of sheep soon grazing on spring grass with a sheep dog or two being their only company. They'll stay there throughout the summer.

We only have actual green grass for about a month and a half out of the year where I live, and the rest of the year they need to be almost exclusively supplimented We think they get so excited and know it will go away quickly and just gorge themselves on it.

 

[Geena]

All of the sudden, I'm feeling very hungry.

Do you plant a late crop of zucchini ... or are yours still going that late into the season?

We usually have some zucchini still hanging around if the squash bugs didn't get to them first.

 

[centrarchid]

It's not just about the grass or even legumes for that matter. The consumption of animal prey is a significant contributor to the overall nutrition of the foraging chickens.

 

[Perris]

this is also a useful resource on the nutritional value of grass
https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/animals/dairy/Whats_in_Grass_Todays_Farm_May2014.pdf

 

[NagemTX]

I guess I was lucky with dogs, cats, and horses. All were pretty much free fed and we never had issues. But I wonder if it's because they all lived in a pasture or outside setting. Alot of things over eat or over indulge because they are board including us humans. They all got worked every day. Work includes play too. And when they are pastured with others they tend to make their own fun and food isn't the pacifier it would be with out all that stimulation.

Just a thought and observation of my own animals that I've had throughout the years.

 

[RoyalChick]

this is also a useful resource on the nutritional value of grass
https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/animals/dairy/Whats_in_Grass_Todays_Farm_May2014.pdf

That is interesting - particularly the protein.
My chickens, and one in particular love eating grass. But they seem quite selective about what kind of grass and when.
A clumping type grass that they ignored in the late summer - so much so that I had to hack it down - is now being intensely grazed by my ladies.

 

[laboroflove]

I feed just hay. Grass, clover, alfalfa second cut. Open woody pasture with plenty of trees to eat and munch on. Feed free choice minerals.

Well there you go. You are offering the right hays for the ratio to be correct. Alfalfa, as I’m sure you know, does wonders for animals.

 

[NagemTX]

I think on the grasses the chickens like to eat it's the new shoots. When I move stuff in the yard around and I unearth some young grass shoots they devour them. Older tougher grass is of no interest.