Growing Mangels

[JimW]

I know there was talk about growing mangel beets on PSO to use as feed. I just can't remember did anyone have good results growing them and feeding them to chickens?

[muffin]

I have grown them and plan to grow them again this year. you just need to chop up fine enough for chickens to eat and they will eat them up well...cheap feed with lots of minerals!

[JimW]

I have grown them and plan to grow them again this year. you just need to chop up fine enough for chickens to eat and they will eat them up well...cheap feed with lots of minerals!

Ok thanks where did you get your seed? What variety?

[siberienz]

here are a couple places to get seeds in ontario:

http://wallacesprings.blogspot.ca/2013/ ... hasnt.html

http://www.cottagegardener.com/

Cheers,

[Cuttlefish]

I tried the colossal reds last year, but we didn't get enough rain and they are all stunted and small. Will try again.

[Robbie]

I tried feeding regular beets but they wouldn't touch them. Is that because I didn't chop them up, or are mangels that different?

[WLLady]

Mine absolutely hated them. Would not touch them grated chopped or otherwise destroyed. My horses wouldnt either. So no more for me. I have sand but they didnt get really big...maybe 1/2 pound or a bit more each. Nice greenery.....i must have picky animals because my horses eat beet pulp in the winter...but that has other stuff in it too.

[windwalkingwolf]

I grew the yellow ones a couple years ago. Only the greens went to the chickens and they liked them fine. The roots ended up pickled with my regular beets, and we liked THOSE just fine LOL. They grew much better in my clay soil than the Detroit dark reds, and were very large, not woody or bitter even though they protruded half way out of the ground.

[StarviewRidge]

We have gotten some monsters with the red ones, but the yellows from Cottage Gardener didn't do near as well....will try them in a different soil this year. The chickens weren't real big on anything but the greens here...even chopped up....but the pigs will take your hand off trying to get them from you whole! Our potbelly's new favourite treat...I had a few that were ridiculously huge (length of my forearm and hand) but they got kind of tough at that point and she would just run around with it like a dog with a stick. Our muscovy ducks liked them grated if it was mixed with their food, but not so much on its own. I left a bunch in the ground for biomass and tilled them in the fall....seems a few coyotes (I think) have been trying to dig some pieces out. They sure break up the soil nicely....sort of like a tillage radish, just not as deep, but much wider...I think they could really help with clay soils or hardpan in rotation with cover crops and green manures. Will experiment more this year in other garden plots

[JimW]

Thanks for all the info. I saw OSC sells the giant red ones, I may order from them as I only want a few seeds to try this year and can buy a small package from them.