Nutritional Needs Of Chickens? (Fun Project)

[AnthonyT]

Most common forage legumes are not high in tannins, the major exception being some varieties of serecia lespedeza. As for the warnings on feeding raw legumes, they apply mainly to the seeds - soy beans, beans, peas, etc which should be heated before being fed. Legume hay and pasture has been recommended for hogs and poultry for a long, long time. Also, the fiber content of leaf matter and growing vegatative portions is much lower than stems or non-growing portions.

 

[Kung Foo Chicken]

Kudzu foliage had still a high leaf proportion at this stage of maturity (53%), reflected in a high digestibility. A high ratio of Kudzu in the supplement diets made them higher in digestibility compared to the grass diet (Table 7). In a digestibility trial with cassava silage supplement Man and Wiktorsson (2001) reported the opposite result, with low digestibility in the supplement diets. These results were explained by the fact that the high tannin content in cassava silage may bind fiber and protein in strong chemical bonds, which make these compounds indigestible. In the present study this would not have happened, because the tannin content of Tropical Kudzu was low (<1%) according to Lowry et al (1992).

Drying reduced the free tannin (Ahn et al 1997) and thus the binding of protein and fiber decreased (Reed et al 1990; Kumar and D’Mello 1995).

Conclusions

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Tropical Kudzu foliage can be preserved by making hay or silage. In the silage making process sugarcane molasses additive should be at least 3% of fresh Kudzu.

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Diet DM intake increased with the preserved Kudzu foliage, especially with the Kudzu hay supplement.

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Digestibility coefficients of Kudzu silage and Kudzu hay were higher than those of grass



This is for cows of course but, discussed the tannin issue which is small if dried which frees up the protein and fiber

http://www.cipav.org.co/lrrd/lrrd20/supplement/hiep2.htm

AnthonyT right I'm not feeding the beans themselves but, the foliage, stems and roots. Kudzu only has the "beans" for a small part of the year and haven't even thought of using those as they are rare to find. Also not a complete diet as before it is a supplement like cracked corn etc as they still get their pellets and other goodies.

 

[AnthonyT]

Yes, kudzu beans are very rare, the plant hardly ever makes seed, depending on vegatative propagation. Kudzu is way underutilyzed in many areas for livestock feed. The stuff is great for goats and cattle. Kudzu silage sounds interesting also, and chickens will eat silage although it is not preferred by them. At least grass/legume silage. Sorguhm or corn silage might be better received. Hard to make really good silage on a small scale though it can be done in heavy duty garbage bags if you are careful. Hardest part is getting the forage chopped into 3/8"-3/4" pieces without a silage chopper. When you get into the older literature they fed chickens all sorts of things you never here of today.

 

[Kung Foo Chicken]

Quote:
When the leaves are dried ( I used a microwave for this for trials) the leaves literally fall into dust when scrunched. The main problem is that leftover are the veins and stems that harden with drying. Since I don't want impacted crops I used a Pasta strainer that has large holes and all those stems are separated. In a larger scale I would use hardware cloth similar to the smaller type holed variety in the bottom of incubators (not sure of size).

Drying would be in the sun in a larger scale because temps ranged from 100f-106f much of this summer or perhaps the old fire pit on the property in some way.

Nothing much yet on the emails I sent out asking some questions to the people I spoke of earlier.

Yeah on the old folks feeding stuff. My grandmother fed hers Pillbugs, Doodle Bugs or whatever you call them because they are crustacean and their hard shells make an excellent calcium source. She stored them in a plastic barrel under her house.

Added Kuzu Flour (Ground Kudzu Root Flour) (Japanese Arrowroot)
2/3 of Japan's Production makes this product (interesting)

* Thickening agent for puddings, sauces and other baking
* More easily digested than wheat flour.
* Absolutely tasteless and clear when cooked!
* It doesn't impart a chalky taste when undercooked, like cornstarch does.
* Perfect substitute for corn starch.
* Gluten Free (Some have adverse reaction to Gluten in Wheat)

 

[brandywine]

digitS' :

Researching nutritional needs IS fun, Kung Fu. However, if we wish to fully understand the information out there, we need to understand the relationships of the food parts of diet by breaking things up into components. (As Jim is saying - into amino acid rather than protein percentages) I was just reading in Wikipedia that there are thought to be 8 "essential" amino acids and 20 "nonessential" (?) ones. The difference is that the essential ones must be in our diets and the nonessential ones can be synthesized out of other components. All this gets a little complex . . .


Steve

Essential v. non-essential amino acids is a species-specific thing.

Generally, the more carnivorous an animal has evolved to be, the fewer amino acids it can synthesize, the more it needs complete proteins in its diet.

For example, humans (omnivores) do not require dietary taurine, while domestic cats (obligate carnivores) quickly sicken, go blind, and die without it.

I do not know the exact tally of essential amino acids for chickens. I suspect that they are much closer to humans than they are to cats or cattle -- IOW, neither an obligate carnivore nor a true herbivore.​

 

[Kung Foo Chicken]

Thanks Brandywine I was thinking along the same lines that everything on a Kudzu plant is edible by humans. Humans have eaten exclusively during times of famine. Used as food for over 2000 years. Chickens are omnivorous similar to humans. The root extract is gaining a lot of ground in the health food industry going for 16.00 per lb.


Pueraria root(kudzu root) rich of amino acid,especially contain necesarry amino acid(calculate as per 100grams dry root):lisine 10mg,Methionine 7.54mg,Phenylalanine 9.65mg,Threonine 9.63mg,leucine 11.54mg,Valine 11.24mg,Histidine 6.74mg,also contain good minerals such as selenium,zinc,manganese,germanium,etc.

kudzu vine(pueraria vine) and kudzu leaves(pueraria leaves) contain dry phyto protein no less than 16.5% to 22.5%,and the output of kudzu vine(pueraria vine) and kudzu leaves(pueraria leaves) is more higher than other bird's foot(legumina pasture),fit for feed bird and livestock,wild kudzu plant grow in rich state and have good patience for bad weather,dry weather,still be viridity in 2 months without any rain.

The phyto protein in it is a supplement that can be taken by vegetarians for protein replacement.

More info found here seems loosely translated from Chinese. Mostly touting the use of the root extract for medicinal purposes but, has a lot of Kudzu information
http://www.mdidea.com/products/herbextract/kudzu/data.html

 

[dlhunicorn]

I have collected extensive info (basic as well as specialized Poultry research) much of which I have categorized into the Nutrition section at my library
http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi

...birds are not mammals and info specifically re the chickens digestive and nutrient recquirements is extensively researched.

 

[Kung Foo Chicken]

Quote:
Of course birds aren't mammals but, the chicken can eat nearly everything humans can which was the point.
I'm not seeing much of a problem in going by your nutrition charts if one combines both leaf fodder and root powder it nearly meets all those nutritional requirements minus a few and a few exceeding. Remember I wasn't suggesting that this was a complete food source only a supplement feed at least for now. For instance something that can be mixed in with the designated pellets.

Yes I know chicken nutrition has been well researched but, Kudzu as usable sources other than cattle feed or erosion control in the old days has not while other countries use it in a myriad of ways from food, poultry food, cattle food, medicinal for centuries. Here in the west we have started researching it's use as ethanol for fuel and the touted eastern uses for medicinal purposes and yes a small bit of research into using it as food. In the ethanol field they tout that the leftover byproducts could be easily made into guess what livestock feed including poultry.

Thanks by the way on those charts as they are helpful and what I was looking for.

 

[dlhunicorn]

How a chicken digests the feed it eats (and why those recquirements are at the ratios they are has to do with that > just because it eats something does not mean it is able to absorb the nutrients from it)... I suggest you also read the articles on digestion and also the others incl Nutritional Disorders >what happens when they eat too much of the wrong thing or too little (not just a chart )
I wish you luck on your venture and look forward to any other info you find.

 

[Kung Foo Chicken]

Absorption of nutrients should be around 50-70% in Poultry.
Absorption of nutrients should be around 70-80% In Goats
This is for dried leaf absorption for poultry. With adding in the vines it is around 30-40% for poultry.
Absorption dramatically increases as the leaves are dried for poultry.
Leaves are much more nutritious than that of the vines.

Younger leaves and shoots are more absorbed and palatable than the older leaves.

Would not feed as a whole food without supplements.
Have fed to chickens since the 1940's as well.

The roots should be about the same nutrition as feeding poultry potatoes.
Was invited to Rutherfordton NC to discuss more with them.



Gleaned from email from the Kudzu Farm