Kudzu?

[talos321]

Information from a Chinsese site on usage of Kudzu. Anyone tried feeding it to them?

Nutritional Value::
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,kudzu leaves:

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.


*I'm trying to keep a list of highly nutritious plants etc for chickens from weeds or things that easily obtained*

*Another Site

Nutrition
Nutritional Value-high in vitamins C and A with a good amount of protein, calcium, potassium, phosphorus and iron

 

[silkiechicken]

Not sure what that is really... but I'm sure in moderation it would be fine. If you know for what purpose it is use for in traditional medicine, it may help you find out if there will be "side effects" so to say. I had some herb soup once... and it turned out to be a potent blood thinner. My mom makes lots of herb stuff according to Chinese medicine... it's a tradition thing though, to be lost in my generation.

 

[dlhunicorn]

Think twice before you you encourage this plant:
http://www-aes.tamu.edu/mary/kudzu/kudzu.htm

http://www.rstc.msstate.edu/projects/fw04.html
"....The Federal Noxious Weed Act was passed in 1974. This regulation defines Federal Noxious Weeds as any plants of foreign origin, not widely distributed in the United States, that can injure crops, livestock (including poultry) or other facets of agriculture, useful plants, fish and wildlife resources, or public health, or could interfere with irrigation or navigation. Kudzu, cogongrass, and tropical soda apple are classified as Federal Noxious Weeds...."

If you are wishing to pursue it for other purposes then do so in a pot where it can not spread (you can regularly trim the roots etc. to keep it from outgrowing the pot and spreading) here is some basic info:
http://www.mdidea.com/products/herbextract/kudzu/data.html

 

[ncgnance]

Trust me, you do NOT want to mess around with kudzu!! It is the scourge of the South! It was brought in to stop erosion, many years ago, and now it has taken OVER in many areas. It spreads like wildfire, and grows like CRAZY. You MUST have something else you can feed your chickens!! This is another example of bringing in a non-native species that totally screws up the balance of things!!

 

[talos321]

Yes, I live in the South so there is Kudzu everywhere.

I was more so impressed that it is supposedly full of vitamins and in the pea family. There isn't much info to go on other than some farmers use the stuff when dried as hay for pigs, horses. The stems, flowers, pods, roots, leaves are edible by humans. The Japanese etc lived off it during times of famine and they do feed it to poultry and make feed from it. I know not to let it grow in my yard since it is very difficult to remove.

This is much more so a kind of project to me on what would happen if it were required to find your own food and food for your animals. Say oil went to 500.00 per barrel. I try out a little of this and that on the birds but they still get their pellets, grower etc for now. I kinda started with this idea and started out finding what Eastern Wild Turkeys ate in the wild, quail then see if the chickens would eat. I'm surprised how hard it is to find what native plants are even edible.

 

[kokotg]

I was just reading in a book about edible wild plants that you can also make a white flour out of kudzu. so, yeah, come massive oil shortages you and your chickens will know the secret of how to ride out the famine

 

[Ga Chicken Mom]

This is a great idea. If your chickies eat and thrive on kudzu as a treat, we can all raise thousands of chickens, let them loose on the dreaded vine and rid the South of the plague. Luckily we don't have any on our mountain but if I see one little tendril of the stuff, I'm buying a flamethrower.

 

[talos321]

It was just a curiosity I had whether I could self sustain if I had to and have found out a lot of interesting plants I regarding as merely weeds to be plucked and tossed away but are actually very good for you. Kudzu Cornbread anyone?

 

[nccountrygirl]

Kudzu is a very aggressive species in the south. It takes over telephone poles and woods and any other thing it can crawl on and take root. I would not plant this plant unless you care to have it over grow your town.

 

[ncgnance]

Whew!! Boy, you scared me, Talos..I could just see a non-southerner starting their own patch of kudzu for chicken food. But now that I know you're a southerner, too, I feel much better. And you're right, I've read about using dried kudzu as animal feed. I've also seen some beautiful baskets made from the vines. I don't know if its edible for humans, but if things get bad enough, we may just find out. At least if it IS edible, we won't starve ...

Oh, and welcome to BYC!! I love it here, lots and lots of knowledge here.