NY chicken lover!!!!

[Cass]

The eggs you gave me, yup all 3 hatched and are now BEAUTIFUL! Growing up nice and healthy. Can't wait for some eggs! I have a black/blue Ameracauna run now too. My girls are bringing them to the Altamont Fair. Let's go show birds! Thank you so much!

Glad to hear that they hatched (I didn't doubt fertility, cuz the poor hens are bare backed) I hope they do well at the fair.

I just hatched 4 of them myself. Cute little buggers.

 

[Cass]

Just found my buff brahma bantam mama dead in the yard an hour ago, minus a head. 3 of the babies are gone without a trace and the other 2 are staying with daddy (he's such a good roo). All were well and accounted for at 12:30. I could see them out the window plus the farmer was going in and out of the drive all afternoon with the trucks and tractors. I didn't hear a thing so it must have happeded when I wash vacuuming and steam cleaning. It was broad daylight! Would a dog eat the head like that? Then to top it off the younger batch of bantam babies were gone when I went through to check everyone else. There is a small hole in the wall, hence mamas in coop babies not. Babies are gone with out a trace too.

So sorry for your losses.

I had a coon in my coop at 4 pm. Not dawn, not dusk, middle of day. And it went for the chicken's head. The chicks gone without a trace is a puzzlement tho. I hope they resurface. Is it possible for them to get under your coop or other building?

 

[Cass]

I set a full dozen eggs.
7 hatched.
3 were early quitters
and 1 a late quitter.

Momma abandoned nest today. I was curious and cracked the eggs remaining in the nest.

But wait....add that up again....that's only 11. Where did the other blue egg go? I swear one of my chickens is a magician. Things keep moving, dissappearing and falling from the sky in a different location.

 

[Glasshen]

I just googled "are acorns edible" and got lots of stuff. The reason acorns are not widely eaten seems to be the tannin. Tannin is very bitter and was used for tanning leather, but is a deterrent for taste. White oaks have less than some others, like red and black oaks, and it was noted that squirrels prefer white oaks. Native Americans and Koreans use acorns.

For humans one must gather a ors, reject any which have worm holes, remove the caps, crack the shells, but don't mash them with the pliers, remove the meat from the shells. Then they recommend grinding the meats in a grinder and placing the meal in a glass bowl and covering with boiling water. Allowing to soak for an hour and then repeating the soaking. It can be tasted to see if it is palatable, or can be soaked more. After leaching out the tannin the meal must be dried, an oven would work then it can be used, but it can mold or spoil quickly.

I wonder if the chickens would care about the tannins? And how much processing one would need to do? Would cracking be enough? Or must the shells be removed? Would they care if there were worms?

I think, and this is only me saying this, but chickens could eat acorns.

 

[Glasshen]

I also found something which warned against allowing cattle to consume a large amount of acorns as it could cause ulcers in their mouths and digestive tract, and it was the tannin which caused the problems. So perhaps doing the leaching process would be helpful. I wonder if you could just crack the nuts and soak them in a couple of changes of water then feed them moist to the chickens the same day? But as only a portion of their feed, so they would have the option of not eating them if they knew things about acorns that we didn't. But to store them, they would have to be thoroughly dried, possibly frozen.

I guess one has to ask, is the work and energy involved worth the potential savings?

 

[vmdanielsen]

I also found something which warned against allowing cattle to consume a large amount of acorns as it could cause ulcers in their mouths and digestive tract, and it was the tannin which caused the problems. So perhaps doing the leaching process would be helpful. I wonder if you could just crack the nuts and soak them in a couple of changes of water then feed them moist to the chickens the same day? But as only a portion of their feed, so they would have the option of not eating them if they knew things about acorns that we didn't. But to store them, they would have to be thoroughly dried, possibly frozen.
I guess one has to ask, is the work and energy involved worth the potential savings?

Glass, that is what I was thinking! Seems like a lot of work, for what you get.

 

[stonykill]

I also found something which warned against allowing cattle to consume a large amount of acorns as it could cause ulcers in their mouths and digestive tract, and it was the tannin which caused the problems. So perhaps doing the leaching process would be helpful. I wonder if you could just crack the nuts and soak them in a couple of changes of water then feed them moist to the chickens the same day? But as only a portion of their feed, so they would have the option of not eating them if they knew things about acorns that we didn't. But to store them, they would have to be thoroughly dried, possibly frozen.
I guess one has to ask, is the work and energy involved worth the potential savings?

I wonder about things like this. I've killed A LOT of deer. Many were UNDER oak tree's eating. Same with turkeys. Killed A LOT of them. Now I never looked in the turkeys beak to see if it had ulcers, but I am positive that none of the deer I killed who lived on acorns their entire life did.

I've read many of the online articles, etc on acorns. Typical internet stuff. You know "Yes you can, no you can't bla bla bla". So now my curiosity is peaked even if I never gather an acorn.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

So after much reading on many different sites it seems that there is an equal division among experts and flockkeepers alike as to whether or not it is safe for chickens to eat acorns. The question of toxicity seems unclear. There are a large number of people who will not feed acorns because of the studies they have read about toxicity of tannins to cattle, etc. It should be noted that the cattle in some of these studies ate large amounts of acorns as well as green acorns, leading to toxicity problems. The studies done on poultry were less clear, but no less relevant. On many other sites, including ones by homesteaders and various publications dedicated to home/selfsuffiency, these people have been feeding crushed acorns to their chickens with no problems. They did point out that they selected only acorns that showed no signs of rodent activity or splits or worms. I guess the bottom line is given all this information, we have to make our own decision about acorns. Given how many white oaks I have, I think it would be worth a try. Smashing open a few and seeing if they eat the nuts and how they do with them is worth the risk if it means that I can supplement their feed with a good source of fat and protein.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

I wonder about things like this. I've killed A LOT of deer. Many were UNDER oak tree's eating. Same with turkeys. Killed A LOT of them. Now I never looked in the turkeys beak to see if it had ulcers, but I am positive that none of the deer I killed who lived on acorns their entire life did.

I've read many of the online articles, etc on acorns. Typical internet stuff. You know "Yes you can, no you can't bla bla bla". So now my curiosity is peaked even if I never gather an acorn.

Stony--hunting is actually what brought me to this whole question of acorns for chickens. I always check the stomachs to see what the deer and turkeys have been feasting on and acorns are a large part of their diet in the fall. If nothing else, I will get some good exercise gathering and smashing them this fall!

 

[stonykill]

Stony--hunting is actually what brought me to this whole question of acorns for chickens. I always check the stomachs to see what the deer and turkeys have been feasting on and acorns are a large part of their diet in the fall. If nothing else, I will get some good exercise gathering and smashing them this fall!

that is precisely why I question the toxicity of them. Especially in cattle. Deer are bovine as are cows. Turkeys aren't that different from chickens.

A "scientific" study can produce whatever results the people holding the study want the outcome to be. Unless it is a double blind study. Then the results are less tainted. I have been keeping my reading to what the homesteaders have to say.