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Does anyone use Bur Oak acorns as animals feed? (self.livestock)

submitted ago by Masil123

I have an opportunity to obtain many of these seedlings. Anyone have any inside information on how well the acorns will do for a supplemental animal feed?

http://www.songonline.ca/ecsong/essays/buroak.html

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[–]NoMoreNicksLeft 3 points4 points ago

Anyone have any inside information on how well the acorns will do for a supplemental animal feed?

Wikipedia suggests that they grow 1ft per year. It may be 15 years before you get any acorns at all. But once they do produce, it could be significant... hundreds of pounds per tree, if not thousands. The acorns are huge (bigger than a golf ball), and heavy/full.

If you're wanting something quicker, check out this place:

http://oikostreecrops.com/store/prodtype.asp?PT_ID=6&strPageHistory=cat

[–]bluequail 1 point2 points ago

How on earth would you keep the little woodland critters from eating your yield?

[–]NoMoreNicksLeft 2 points3 points ago

Wouldn't be any different than any other nut crop. Harvest it and store it as soon as it's ready, anti-pest measures.

[–]bluequail 1 point2 points ago

Back when I lived in NM, we used to try and collect pinon nuts in the wild. Most trees were already stripped bar by the squirrels and what have you. Some people who would sell the nuts would find a squirrel's hiding spot, and raid that instead (stealing the poor little bastard's store for the winter), and when the Hanta virus originally broke out, many thought it was from the squirrel urine in the nest. I can't even remember how that ended. :)

[–]Masil123[S] 0 points1 point ago

Thanks for the link. Ill read through it for growth times vs production vs growing zone. I live in zone 2-3, and that alone will be the major limiting factor.

[–]tjw 3 points4 points ago

All oaks are poisonous to most livestock (cattle, horses, sheep, and goats at least). Relatively small amounts cause abortions, if an animal acquires a taste for oak leaves and acorns it results in death by kidney failure.

[–]Masil123[S] 2 points3 points ago

Wow that is interesting. Hmm I'll definitely be researching that. I was planning on using them for poultry, pigs, and perhaps cattle.

[–]tjw 2 points3 points ago*

I know acorns are a dietary staple of wild Wood Ducks, but I'm not sure how well domestic breeds handle them.

You can cook/boil the tannic acid out of acorns to make them edible for humans. You could do the same for hogs, but I kind of doubt it would be worth the expense.

As far as cattle, my pastures are full of oak trees. Adult cattle have enough sense to take a pass on eating acorns, but if an oak tree full of fresh leaves falls over, that's a problem.

[–]Masil123[S] 2 points3 points ago

I knew about boiling them for the tannic acid. I envisioned a big outdoor barrel on a fire pit boiling away with the acorns we harvested. I knew there was work involved using them as food. I'm looking for options in my cold (zone 2-3) climate for feeding the future animals.

[–]ruraldream 0 points1 point ago

Look at ash trees and hazelnuts. Both grow much faster than burr oaks, and ash leaves have been used as a forage in the UK. I am zone 2-3 and am having success with growing hazelnuts (they're just a couple years old, so no crops yet, but limited winterkill), and everyone around here has a mountain ash or two, so they're obviously very hardy, as well.

[–]Masil123[S] 0 points1 point ago

Thanks for replying, I definately will research them.

[–]EvilEmpath 0 points1 point ago

Both pigs and turkeys eat them. In fact they prefer them to commercial feed in many cases. You might be able to feed them to smaller poultry if you grind them first, but I don't know anyone who's actually done it.

They're bad for ruminants.

[–]Masil123[S] 0 points1 point ago

Awesome, thanks. Ive read that in my research. I appreciate your reply to reinforce the idea.

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