Comfrey as animal feed -- Bocking 14 or is there a better one?

I am aware of the Bocking 14 that you use as a liquid feed for plants (got it) but is there one that's good as animal feed?

you can use the bocking 14 for feed as well. my chickens love the stuff!

For those that don't know about blocking 14 

Bocking 14 is sterile, and therefore will not set seed (one of its advantages over other cultivars as it will not spread out of control), thus is propagated from root cuttings. The gardener can produce their own ‘offsets’ from mature, strongly growing plants by driving a spade horizontally through the leaf clumps about 3 inches below the soil surface. This removes the crown, which can then be split into pieces. The original plant will quickly recover, and each piece can be replanted with the growing points just below the soil surface, and will quickly grow into new plants. When choosing plants to divide, ensure that they are strong healthy specimens with no signs of rust or mildew. When dividing comfrey plants, take care not to spread root fragments around, or dispose of on the compost heap, as each can re-root, and comfrey can be a very difficult plant to get rid of. Offsets can also be purchased by mail order from specialist nurseries in order to initially build up a stock of plants.

I have read some sources that state that Bocking #4 might be slightly better than Bocking #14.

I've heard that Bocking #4 has been seen to have lower levels of pyrrolizidine alkaloids than Bocking #14. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) has been argued to have a level of poison to us which makes it controversial for consumption. Allegedly, Bocking #4 tends to have a higher protein content than # 14. For more information, try this Permies thread.

I grow both varieties and they both grow similarly in my local climate. This will be my second year of growth on my #4 patch and third for my # 14. I'll be curious if offered side by side if the chickens might have a preference?

Timothy Norton wrote:I grow both varieties and they both grow similarly in my local climate. This will be my second year of growth on my #4 patch and third for my # 14. I'll be curious if offered side by side if the chickens might have a preference?

Timothy, I bookmarked this to check back in when you are able to see that there is a preference.

I grow the #14 and put it areas that I don't want it to spread like around fruit trees an such. I have the regular comfrey in patches and I leave space around those patches 2 mower width wide and that has controlled and spreading.

My chickens and rabbits prefer the regular comfrey. It may just be my circumstances here but I think I know why. The #14 has a furry and somewhat rough surface. The regular comfrey has a much more smooth surface.

You know I wonder if this is triggered somehow in the plant because it cannot propagate and so it makes its leaves less desirable to eat.

Josh Hoffman wrote: You know I wonder if this is triggered somehow in the plant because it cannot propagate and so it makes its leaves less desirable to eat.

Hmmm.... maybe. But since during the last drought, our deer decided that fuzzy comfrey was just fine as a food source, I wonder if the same people who didn't want it to spread uncontrollably, also wanted it to have some defense from over-browsing?

I've heard, but can't confirm, that the fresh new leaves on comfrey have more toxins (relative of course) than older leaves so that they don't get browsed in the spring before they can recover from the winter. If others have heard this, please speak up, as it means that I should pick older leaves if I'm giving it to the ducks.

Jay Angler wrote:I've heard, but can't confirm, that the fresh new leaves on comfrey have more toxins (relative of course) than older leaves so that they don't get browsed in the spring before they can recover from the winter. If others have heard this, please speak up, as it means that I should pick older leaves if I'm giving it to the ducks.

I choose the older and larger leaves to feed to our livestock because they are on the bottom portion of the plant. I have also read what you mention.

My observations are that the deer eat the comfrey down to the ground, at anytime of the year.

Timothy Norton wrote:I grow both varieties and they both grow similarly in my local climate. This will be my second year of growth on my #4 patch and third for my # 14. I'll be curious if offered side by side if the chickens might have a preference?

Timothy, did you get a chance to compare the 2? I have the scary kind and the bocking 14 kind but not the 4.

I have not had the chance to dry leaves yet which would allow more control over the 'experiment' but I have made observations on standing plants.

I have let my chickens out in two separate paddocks and can say with confidence that the hens have nibbled more on the #4 while they are more than happy to dig around on the #14 due to all the insect life in the little biome the plant creates. I want to emphasis that by nibbled I really mean a bite or two before they move on to scrounge on other things.

I'd say there isn't any difference between the two. I have read that dried/wilted comfrey is more palatable and I am planning on harvesting very soon.

@Jay Angler. As far as i'm aware the whole Alkaloid controversy boiled down to this. One horse was given 20 kilo of comfrey leaves a day to eat, horse died, conclusion, comfrey bad...
I also know that a balm called horse balm contained comfrey and was only to be given to race horses. Off course people used it and it worked so great for tendinitis and muscle ache that it got popular and a year later contained mostly the same ingredients but ... comfrey.
To me it looks like they do not want people to use it.
Having said all that, the only man i know that regularly ate it has died of liver cancer, so i don't risk eating it, but the hairs freak me out anyway. I've put the creeping variety next to my neighbors chicken coop, thinking they would have all of it they could, but they don't. It's creeping in, staying steady for a couple of years. They eat it, but not like till the last leaf. Another indication i found that there's something fishy about it.
I just read what people have to say about it for years, because i use the root in balms. Which have cured my neighbors shoulder a doctor said he couldn't use anymore without it being operated on.