We are planting mangels this spring to feed our chickens. I wondered if anyone had any experience with mangels regarding storage, size they grow too, etc.

-- susan banks (susan.banks@sait.ab.ca), January 23, 2002

Answers

mangel beets? My chickens wont touch them,, but its a crop grown around here for teh sugar,, and for deer feed. Store very well,, some are over 5 pounds.. IM still feeding deer with the ones I have,, and I left them out all winter

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), January 23, 2002.

I grew them a couple years ago for our goats. The goats didn't like them much, but our chickens did...they loved them. I didn't feed them a lot at one time as they weren't used to them, but when I did they gobbled them up. The deer LOVED them, they dug up a whole section of garden and ate them all (I planted them in two places). They are very prolific and grow very large (look like a BIG sweet potato). We got lots of them; our soil is hard red clay. They stored okay for us, but they weren't in the best of circumstances. We put them under some straw on the ground in an open barn. We don't have a cellar or anyplace like that (YET). Anyway, you could give it a try. Where did you get the seeds? I got mine from Gurney's, but cannot find them in the catalog anymore. I hope they work out for you.

-- Sharon (spangenberg@hovac.com), January 23, 2002.

Shumway's has mangel beet seeds

-- bw (niobrara55@hotmail.com), January 23, 2002.

My birds like most root vegetables but I have to grind or chop them up for them first. None of them have much in the way of protein, they're primarily carbohydrates so you'd want to make sure they kept their protein intake up or you'll suffer in the egg department or slow the growth of your broilers.

Can't say about storage and size, I don't believe I've ever seen them grown down here.

........Alan.

-- Alan (athagan@atlantic.net), January 23, 2002.

I chopped them up for my chickens too--they are very firm in texture. I'll have to see if I can get a Shumway catalog.

-- Sharon (spangenberg@hovac.com), January 23, 2002.

Thanks for the input. I bought my seeds from Vesseys which is in Prince Edward Island, Canada. They have a web site as well.

-- susan banks (susan.banks@sait.ab.ca), January 23, 2002.

Have you tried sunflowers? Just break off a piece of the head (don't just give them the seeds)(& if you have any goats, they would love the stalks or are great chopped for compost). Sunflower seeds have a higher oil/protien level then any root vegitable that I know of, & are easier to store then any root crop. Sorry I couldn't help you on the mangels as I also want to know the answers to your questions.

Good luck

animalfarms

-- animalfarms (jawjlewis@netzero.net), January 24, 2002.