soybeans/all beans (POISON)

[digitS']

Here's a link I'll throw in just for fun on alternative protein sources for animal feeds. It is a 12-page pdf presentation by the manager of nutrition, at ADM Animal Health - the emphasis is on pet foods.

For alternatives, keep in mind, poultry feed is THE principal use for soymeal. You almost cannot, and probably need not, get away from it in commercial feeds. It requires proper processing to be a safe and nutritious food.

Steve

 

[d.k]

That doesn't include lentils, does it???

 

[digitS']

I believe these antinutritional factors are in all legumes, d.k.

Here's what the ADM guy said in the linked article, "Unprocessed plant proteins, legume seeds in particular, typically contain anti-nutritional factors that reduce palatability, digestion and nutrient utilization when consumed by animals. This is one of Nature’s natural defense mechanisms for plant survival."

So, they may be good for the plants but not so good for whatever eats the seeds. Because this is a genetic characteristic of the plants, there's a real effort to breed it out or limit it in legumes grown for food.

Steve

(edited: Note that the ADM guy says, "unprocessed" plant proteins . . . Processing is needed.)

 

[SeaChick]

Are you all saying that even raw green beans/string beans and peas are bad? They are all legumes. My girls ate lots of raw peas and beans last year....... not good??????

 

[silkiechicken]

Mine gobbled up all the beans they could reach. It could be a thing with seed maturity though.

It probably depends on how much they get and for how long and type. I was eating the beans raw...

 

[crazychickens]

Thank-you for telling us this!

I'm a first timer with chickens and I didnt know that.

Each year I plant a 100 foot garden, WITH BEANS!!!!!!!

 

[d.k]

SO CONFUSED!! CHOOKS BEEN EATIN 3 KINDS OF LENTILS IN HER "HOMEBREW" FOR MONTHS!!

 

[patandchickens]

Having done a buncha googling on this yesterday all in a panic

[btw, my girls seem fine], it would seem that:

-- it's just beans not peas.

-- it's just the mature (or reasonably mature) seeds, not greenbeans.

-- there is a lot of variation, between different types of beans AND within a given type of bean depending on how it grew and what variety it was. By no means does raw beans = definite doom; however it is playing roulette.

-- the worst offenders (the beans with, commonly, the highest concentrations of trypsin inhibitors) seem to be, in no particular order, red kidney beans, soybeans, lima beans, and IIRC correctly aybe broad beans too.

This does not mean other kinds are necessarily safe; nor does it mean the above 4 are necessarily going to make the chickens sick. I am sure there are chickens who have been eating raw or dried beans for quite a while with no problems, but only because they happen to be eating beans that don't contain much in the way of trypsin inhibitors. Eating different beans, or eating the same kind of bean grown elsewhere or in a different year, it could perfectly well be a different story.

Just the way it looks to me from my reading,

Pat