Consider this,using dry lawn leaves for feed and bedding

[560Dennis]

Tell about what we have found over the last three years. I deposed our fall lawn leaves out to the son s farm for cover for strawberries and bedding for the livestock.
Well my son observed the sheep and goats are eating the dry leaves . Also the steers were complaining they didnt get any.

So I mulch the leaves with the billy goat vacuum and the lawn mower to get the leaves to pack tight into the 7x18 landscape trailer to conserve space.
My leaves are in order of volume,maple,oak,walnut,linden ,beech,sycamore,hickory ,lower grass clipping and white pine to give a idea of the mixture.

Im wondering what the food value is of this mixture ,dont have any data on that .

But I have not noticed any change in the flavor of the goat milk. I rate it excellent personally. Much better taste that in stores.

I put this out there in hopes you can give me and others some feedback as to your thoughts ?

Volume ,Is about 500 cubic feet of leaves annually.

This was an excellent fall leaves were I say much drier , no rain and i tarp the trailer to make unloading easier on us.
 

[paul]

Walnut and maybe the pine might be an issue for some species, might be bad for them to consume.

Mom would always throw the leaves from 1/3 of the yard into the cattle barn pen for bedding, the cattle liked nosing through it and ate some. So it certainly can work.

I would consider it more fiber, just filler, that having a lot of feed value. More than zero, but not anything high in value either..... But dont have any hard data on that! :)

Paul
 

[paul]

I guess oak and Cherry and Ponderosa pine are ones to watch out for in cattle.

Paul
Leaves for feed

 

[paul]

And on the other hand, there are groups working hard to feed more trees to livestock......

Paul
Tree feeding

 

[Dave H (MI)]

No horses in the mix? I have heard of issues with horses and black walnut. Goats are browsers and leaves are their thing. Smart too, probably not going to eat something bad. My thing is and always has been, if they have alternatives, they will eat the thing that is best for them. If they are locked up and it is eat it or starve, they may eat something bad or no. My two cents.
 

[MJMJ]

Goats love fallen maple leaves, but theres not much if any nutrition. And cows aren t goats. They will pick through them when new, but they ll figure quick theres nothing in there they really want. Especially after mulched up. It will make okay bedding though as long as its dry.
 

[rrlund]

All I know is, if I get tree leaves rolled up in a bale, I just end up with a big mess in the feeder.