soy beans

[DLS]

I had a guy give me 4 #50 bags of feed soybeans. Do I just feed these to the hens or must I grind them up?

 

[domino7]

I think I've heard they have to be cooked first.

 

[jhm47]

You might be able to feed a very few to your birds without any treatment at all, but they are not good for chickens without either cooking, roasting, or running them through an extruder (an extruder is a screw like machine that compacts the beans tightly till they get very hot, and squirt out of a small nozzle). Raw beans contain a chemical named urease, which can make animals ill. The heating process makes this chemical unable to bother them. You will need to do a search to find out how hot they need to be to make them useable.

 

[Hollywood Chickens]

My grandfather always said that if you feed an animal soy they will go crazy

 

[Akane]

Unless your bag says otherwise I would think any soybeans sold as animal feed are already cooked. You can buy bags of roasted soybeans for deer and cattle. You will find plenty of people who will argue both sides of soy. We never put soybeans directly in to our feed mixes but always preferred when we got our load right after they'd run straight soybeans through the mill. The livestock always came out shiny and healthier looking after the winter. Anything that provides more energy will make "crazy" animals. They will have more energy to expend running about or trying to escape which can make large livestock more difficult to handle and keep calm.

 

[spammy]

soak them overnite and boil fo 20 minutes. Drain and refridgerate, will keep for a week.

 

[rdranch]

Qould sprouting them make them safe to eat if they are uncooked?

 

[Akane]

I suppose if they sprout you know they are uncooked. The greens should be plenty edible but soybeans aren't as easy to sprout as some other plants and it takes a whole lot more effort than just feeding them as is even if you have to cook them.

 

[thekla]

I bought some to use for extra protein for my chicks in the winter and as said above, I always cook at least 12 minutes at 180% or more, but recently a nutritionist who buys eggs from me said that they really aren't great for birds (or people) because almost all of the soybeans available (even organic) are genetically altered, I'm still pondering this and don't plan to dump what I have, but do want to see more research before buying more - on another note, even cooked and cooled, this has not been my birds favorite thing, they will eat it, but seem to prefer other treats. Any opinions/insight out there about this? I know another local person goes out of their way to find chicken food without soy, so I guess there is some issue about it, again, I would love to hear arguments supporting either side before I make any decisions. (and just because they sell something for feed doesn't necessairly mean that this is a good thing)