I am starting to plan for a small (1-3
acre) u-pick poly
fruit orchard. I would like to run poultry through with e-fencing. I am less interested in maximizing the number of
apple trees per se than I am trying to bring about a healthy diverse system. I have little
experience growing mulberries, only eating the wild ones around me in zone 4b.
I plan on planting some for the birds in the very least. I have read and heard in many places that mulberries make great animal fodder and that historically it was
hay before there was hay, so to speak.
My question is, does any one here
feed their poultry mulberry leaves (I know they eat berries, but its the leaves that I want to know about as well)?
I am considering the idea of mulberries planted in row with fruit trees, wherein, the mulberries periodically get pruned ahead of grazing periods. My idea is to prune them regularly so they remain as a large bush and the small branches overhanging into the mow aisles becomes fodder.
Poultry (and sheep I am presume) would eat the chopped greens in the mow aisles. The re-growth rate on those trees is so great that it seems like an excellent
supplement to their diet if they eat it. I have read that ducks will eat just about anything green.
Anyone have experience with this kind of alley cropping w/ silvopasture for small animals?