what is the nutritional value of grass

[OHSpartan]

My birds seem to eat more grass than anything else. Is there any nutritional value from common yard grass?

 

[snoggle]

My horses do just fine on nothing but grass, so there must be a good deal of nutritional value/calories in it. As humans we can't break down the cellulose in plants to get any calories out of it (so we call it fiber and it essentially "passes through us") so we think of it as low in calories. That doesn't mean there aren't plenty of calories there. The calories just aren't available to us. I can't speak to a chickens ability to break down cellulose, but I would imagine they're getting some calories out of there. Of course, they're probably also eating seeds, bugs, and worms when it looks like they're just eating grass. Those have plenty of protein and calories.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

A chicken's ability to digest grass is fairly limited. They are not ruminants so they cannot utilize it for a significant portion of their diet.

That said though, even plain old yard grass is valuable, not for the calories it provides, but for the vitamins and minerals it can contribute. It adds color to the yolk, increases certain vitamins such as A & E and can improve the fatty acid balances. Grass is a very good thing for chickens. Just don't try to use it as a substitute for a balanced ration.