Beans to feed chicken and us.

Trying to stay away from soy beans for protein, is there a better bean out there?  Through the winter we need to bump up the protein for the chickens to keep a few eggs around. Things that would be nice about them, short season, easy to pick, high volume, store dried easily, and can be ground up with a simple hand grinder.  Our chickens don't like dried green beans unless we grind them.

I use dried mung beans for sprouts.  I have sprouted other dried beans.

Have you thought about sprouts for your chickens?  Would they eat them?

What about using the dried beans for microgreens?  Would those work?

I bet your chickens would eat those dried green beans if you soaked them first.

Hi Anne.  We have tried the sprouts and they love them.  We haven't found a sustainable way to keep it going through the winter.  The walk-in basement is to cold to sprout.  I wonder how much protein sprouts have.  I bet it is high.  I like the idea of soaking them.  They would probably do much better being shiny.  Chickens seem to love that.  Our other issue is purely too many chickens.  60 chickens eat a bunch of feed.  We feed them sorghum silage, hay, corn, amaranth and sunflower heads.  This time of year they get a whole lawnmower bag of greenchop.  I bet it weighs 30 pounds, and they have it all in about a half hour.  Thank you for the ideas.

I like the idea of beans for the chickens.  I have a lot of chickens.  This year I am going to plant a variety of beans, (the wife says NO NO NO more beans!  lol), but I will give it a try.

I have no idea how many beans 60 chickens would eat.

I wonder if before going to bed or after supper, put a pot of beans on the stove.  Soak the beans overnight and see if the chicken will eat them like that.

If the chicken will not eat them that way, change the water, and stick the beans in a corner somewhere overnight again.  Maybe they will have sprouted by then.

I live in a similar climate as you, and I've planted Siberian pea shrub to fill this same niche.
The legumes are tiny,  but there are lots of them.
Maybe grow Austrian winter peas and Fava beans as a way to use grow from fall into spring and keep the soil covered.

I was thinking about some of the threads on the forum about how beans must be cooked.

It seems like that is true for chickens also:

To make them safe for both humans and chickens, beans should be soaked in cold water for at least five hours - preferably longer. Then, discard the water, rinse the beans thoroughly and boil rapidly in fresh water for at least thirty minutes.  

https://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/what-chickens-should-not-eat.html

Mine will eat any type of legume, as long as it's cooked. They tend to turn up their noses at raw, dry split peas, or dry lentils. But, the guy at the feed store swears that most chickens love those, so who knows? Each flock seems to develop their own preferences.

Beans such as kidney, pinto, or lima definitely need to be cooked, soaked, or sprouted to get rid of the naturally-occurring toxin they contain. I have no idea if fermenting would render them safe.

Sunflower seeds might be another chicken-safe high-protein treat you could grow.

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:Mine will eat any type of legume, as long as it's cooked. They tend to turn up their noses at raw, dry split peas, or dry lentils. But, the guy at the feed store swears that most chickens love those, so who knows? Each flock seems to develop their own preferences.

Beans such as kidney, pinto, or lima definitely need to be cooked, soaked, or sprouted to get rid of the naturally-occurring toxin they contain. I have no idea if fermenting would render them safe.

Sunflower seeds might be another chicken-safe high-protein treat you could grow.

Does that include fava beans?  I’ve never thought to cook favas and feed the chickens. I grow them for winter cover crop all over the garden. We eat some, give away some, and still have a lot left for the next winter.

So, in response to my own question, I served my girls some cooked fava beans and rice. They ate the rice and “tried” the fava beans, but left most of it uneaten.

Tina Lim wrote:

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:Mine will eat any type of legume, as long as it's cooked. They tend to turn up their noses at raw, dry split peas, or dry lentils. But, the guy at the feed store swears that most chickens love those, so who knows? Each flock seems to develop their own preferences.

Beans such as kidney, pinto, or lima definitely need to be cooked, soaked, or sprouted to get rid of the naturally-occurring toxin they contain. I have no idea if fermenting would render them safe.

Sunflower seeds might be another chicken-safe high-protein treat you could grow.

Does that include fava beans?  I’ve never thought to cook favas and feed the chickens. I grow them for winter cover crop all over the garden. We eat some, give away some, and still have a lot left for the next winter.

I have 2 small flocks of chickens and one LOVES cabbage!  I hang it from a tree branch and they will destroy a large head in an hour.
The other flock won't even mess with a head of cabbage.

Tina Lim wrote:

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:Mine will eat any type of legume, as long as it's cooked. They tend to turn up their noses at raw, dry split peas, or dry lentils. But, the guy at the feed store swears that most chickens love those, so who knows? Each flock seems to develop their own preferences.

You could grow cowpeas.  Purple hull is about 23% protein, but all legumes should be soaked if dry and then cooked.  We use them fresh in soups and do not soak.  
I’m always trying to think of protein foods for chickens, and they do eat a lot.  Sometimes when I’m cooking on the fire pit or the rocket stove outside using up some of the scrap wood branches that fall in the yard, I cook some soaked beans, potato peelings, and/or pumpkin or winter squash for the chickens.  That way I’m not using expensive electric to make that happen.   Most of today’s birds are so commercially bred they don’t get all they need from just foraging.  I think some of the bantam breeds might.   Would be nice if someone developed a landrace chicken more suited to foraging and less dependent on so much purchased high protein feeds.  

When we had someone to help pay the freight costs on a tonne, we have used both feild peas and fava beans.  Both I have soaked overnight and sprouted a few days.   I did feed both raw, but now cook my fava beans.  I don't know the research.  Some chickens love them, and some are more fussy.  If you have fussy or young chickens you can put them in the blender - if they are really fussy, then mix them in with wheat or rice etc.

Think also about green protein - depending where you are things like pigeon pea greens, tree lucerne, kale, clover rich grass clippings.  I realise you may be where there is snow part of the year.  

I ferment wheat bran for my flock and that helps my food bill greatly. At azurestandard it’s .50 a pound but it bulks up nicely after fermenting overnight.
Organic
Non-GMO
Crude protein 14-17%
Crude Fat 3 -4.5%
Crude Fiber 10.5-12%

In summer I feed them greens from the yard, greenhouse, gardens and so on. In winter I sprout whatever seeds are cheapest in the 11x14 trays I use for plug trays on a set of metal shelves with LED strip light in them. My flock of around 30 birds get a third of the tray a day in addition to their laying ration and we get plenty of eggs in the winter.

I was thinking the same thing and if I should soak my beans and have them sprout before giving them to chickens.  Also, was wondering if corn on the cob would be a good treat for chickens?  Thoughts on corn?
https://chickenmag.com/can-chickens-eat-corn/

There are actually quite a few heritage breeds that are way better at foraging, or at the very least, thriving on alternative foods. For eggs, I know people love Icelandics and Hedemoras, for meat (and moderate eggs) I like Lamonas best. We feed them a chop of Comfrey leaves,
rejected beans and peas, sunflower seed heads, cooked potato peelings, turnips, sugar beet pulp, cabbages, mulberry leaves…. probably missing some things. The point is, if you pick a heritage breed, they can definitely thrive on alternative feed systems.