Trees for Animal Fodder
The Benefits of Using Trees as Animal Fodder
Planting trees with the purposes of feeding livestock isn’t a new thing. Dryer climates in Africa’s been doing this since the beginnings of agriculture. In a place where there is already so little to go around, every single edible food sort was used to feed both the humans and the animals.
Europeans and American colonists used pollarding. A practice of cutting down fruiting trees to encourage more growth. The off cuts were then fed to the livestock as a good way to have extra sustenance at the end of the green season. But pollarding was only ever a cheap buffer, never really a habit meant for sustainability.
So with that said, let's start with the dryer climates and move onto the Northern hemisphere’s options for animal fodder collected from trees so you can increase forage below and above your animals!
Top Tree Species for Animal Fodder
Carob Trees
Carob trees are the most versatile tree species on our list of warm climate sorts that can be pushed into wetter, more damp climates a little. As long as it doesn’t get cold enough to get frost, they’ll do just fine. And they do equally well in full heat desert ecosystems.
Besides being perfectly edible for humans, it’s a great substitute for chocolate, their pods make for a very well balanced addition to feed.
Goats can be fed the pods just as is, but your bovine’s might want it broken up a bit. Chickens love the stuff, but for their much tinier mouths, it needs to be pulverized, or at least chipped. The seeds themselves carry 16 percent crude protein, 7.8 percent carbohydrates, 3 percent fat and it’s even got a little potassium and calcium in it too.
The pods are usually the only thing collected to chip down and bulk up feed, but the leaves are perfectly edible for all of the ruminant species. But if they have a choice in the matter, they’ll all rather munch on the delicious, sugary pods and seeds and leave the leaves for lazy grazing from time to time.
Carob trees are a great starting point for small holdings who want a plant sort that can give them the most variation, since it can be used as feed, for human consumption and there’s a place for the seeds on the health conscious market. And it also brings us to the subject of seed pods.
Almost all of your tree feed options in dryer climates have seed pods and such trees require a little time to get well established. So plant them now and give them at least a year, two if you can, so that the product is appropriately nutritious.
And that tree could be chock full of pods that’ll mean nothing to you until they dry and fall off. It's not that they can’t be eaten green, it’s just that you want the nutrition to have the optimal amount of time to concentrate all of those sugars and minerals that you need.
Acacia
The next one on the list is the various Acacia species. There are 1 thousand different species growing just about everywhere south of the equator But you need to do your research here.
A lot of the species are great for animal fodder, but some of them are highly poisonous. Way back in the day, even the poisonous varieties had a great deal of value for humans, since the Khoisan people of southern Africa used the extract to tip their arrows with, making poisoned darts.
And some of them have a great deal of medicinal value for humans too. The various Acacia species usually throw down their pods during the dry season, when other food is scarce, and it’s one of the main food sources for herds in Africa and Australia during the harsh seasons even to this day.
So look into your area, see what grows there naturally and stick with what’s already available in there. Just like the carob, the pods are usually eaten, and the leaves are grazed on.
The pods can’t be stored in the long term though. The moisture in the seed causes mildew and mould, turning the once high carb food suddenly toxic. It’s fine if it’s laying on the ground, soaking up the sun. But just don’t store it in bags with the expectation of hauling it out later to feed your animals the whole pods. For long term storage, chip or pulverise it down and mix 20 percent of it into your stored feed.
Moringa
Moringa is one of nature’s powerhouses. It’s been curing human ailments for centuries. And it’s probably why animals love it so much too. Moringa matures faster than other pod bearing trees, and they don’t mind being planted closer together. It’s a tropical tree, but it doesn’t NEED to be in the jungle.
If you’re willing to give it more water, it’ll do great in any kind of heat. Under ideal conditions they’ll be able to give you flowers in 4 to 6 months, meaning you’ll have pods by the end of the first year. But the leaves have just as much value for you as the pods do. You won’t be limited to waiting for the season to run its course before you get to harvest from it.
It has 24 percent fibre, has the highest concentration of antioxidants of any tree species in the world,
Cattle supplemented with moringa, both the pods and the leaves can be expected to gain 30 percent weight, dairy production goes up by 50 percent and diseases drop down to almost zero.
It’s highly unusual for a tree species to carry this much fat and protein, and it’s even got a little lysine in there to sweeten the deal. Seriously, if you aren’t limited by a colder climate you really should cultivate Moringa anyway, even if it's just for your animals medicinal health.
There is no other tree in existence that can feed your animal as well and give them better medical coverage from the inside out than any other.
Northern Climates
Leaving the heat and the desert behind, let's move on to the North of the equator, where snow, frost and humid weather needs to be taken into consideration.
Locust trees, notably the black locust are prized for their high nutritional content, making them a valuable asset in livestock feeding strategies. The leaves of black locusts are particularly rich in protein, providing a substantial dietary supplement for animals such as goats and cattle.
These trees also offer carbohydrates and essential minerals, enhancing the overall nutritional profile of the fodder they provide. Moreover, black locusts are resilient and adaptable, thriving in various climates and soil conditions. Locusts are also fast growing so they are a great option for quick silvopasture.
Berry varieties
We know berries fall under bush and shrub sorts, and they are not technically a tree species. But they just cannot be discounted on a list of animal feed options that nature gives so freely to you, or an option that gives you so much excess at a time.
Any kind of berry that is edible to humans is edible to animals. They like a good trimming every now and then, leaving you with more than enough green material after each clipping and they are usually a bit of a pest to get out of a field that you need to utilize for something else.
Black berries are especially notorious for being space hogs. They grow so tightly packed and their thorns make it almost impossible to get in there to mow down what’s already become a bit of a jungle to navigate.
Your goats won’t care though, they’ll mow that field clean for you in no time and chickens will happily peck at the fallen berries and the bugs that have collected around them. And with 16 percent protein, no one’s got any reason to complain about an infestation.
Berries planted along a fence line of a property will do well with a seasonal trim, and instead of driving off truck loads of the foliage to the dump, give it to your livestock who have so much to gain from the high amounts of antioxidants.
But if you’re really more interested in a tree, then go for mulberries. They’re massive, hardy and every bovine, wild buck, and goat goes crazy for the fruits and the leaves. White mulberry is a little better suited for wetter climates and they don’t mind a little cold. But there are so many varieties to choose from that you aren’t too limited on your climate.
It won’t have quite the carbohydrates and fat to supplement them heavily, but it’s high in all of the other vitamins and minerals you need for your livestock to thrive. It’s ideal for those who are calving, are in milk and for recovery from an illness.
Poplar Tree
Poplars are mainly used for paper and woodworking production, and most farms and smallholdings plant them along the fence lines as a windbreak and to give some shade and privacy. It grows super fast, and it’s not too bothered by wet soils or in the cold.
It's astounding that it’s not used as fodder more often though, high in crude protein and energy and chock full of all of the other minerals and vitamins you need from a tree.
It’s the ideal thing to plant along pens and stables. They’ll provide shade and wind protection for your animals, while getting fed from the nutrient rich soil around their holdings. And so what if the ground’s a little mucky from water spillage? Poplars won’t care about that at all.
It’s the no nonsense, highly nutritious tree that’s highly palpable for all of your ruminants.
Nut Varieties
We’ve actively avoided fruit trees for the most part, given that they take incredibly long to produce enough fruit to make it worth your while. Their yearly trimmings to encourage new growth can add a good supplemental treat every now and then, but unless you have an orchard full of them that’s already established, it’s unlikely that you’ll get enough to make it worth your while.
And then there’s the fact that not all fruit is made equal and all livestock cannot eat just anything. Pits can be toxic, or they need to be limited to certain varieties to avoid colic. But nut trees on the other hand are so high in nutrients that it offsets the long wait for a harvest somewhat.
Black walnut is a natural antiparasitic and pigs and goats love it whole, though it might have to be chipped or crushed for the others. But all of the walnuts are great, they deter flies, lice and mites where they’re planted.
Almond foliage and hulls are extremely well rounded for feed. We’ve covered almond waste before on this channel, and it’s very sad to see all of those hulls go to waste, given that it can supplement your feed by a good chunk and it's really good for dairy cows. It’s so nutritious that it’s comparable to alfalfa.
So even if you don’t have space for a mini orchard, it’s pretty cheap to get your hands on almond waste, they’re just chucking truckloads into landfills anyway.
Chestnuts, pecans and hazelnuts are all appropriate for feed. And a lot of the time they’re growing wild in the woods behind your house anyway, so you might not have to carve out space on your land to propagate them, you can just go out and get what you need at the end of the season.
Since nuts store so much better and don’t absorb potentially deadly moisture, it’s the ideal high nutrient option for long term storage and to work into your existing stock to bulk up what you have.
Natives
In the North America’s and even into Canada the native Rowan, Ash, Holly, Linden and Hawthorns are great additions to a trough. They also have the extra benefit of being green well into the colder months. By sticking to the native varieties, you’ll be positively impacting the biodiversity in your state and they will require no additional babying from you to get them to grow. This is their natural environment after all.
The tropical states don’t have to lose either, coconut and Sea Buckthorn and even Banana stems are fantastic options. The data on banana stems worked into feed is still a little sparse, but it is perfectly adequate for cattle, goats and even buffalo. It’s got a good amount of crude protein, and a fair amount of nutrients to make it worth your while.
Sea Buckthorn is native to India, and like almost all tropical plants it can thrive in dryer, desert environments as long as it doesn’t get too cold and there's a little extra water to spare. Sea Buckthorn is very versatile for human use too, and it’s hailed as a medicinal wonder for us and our livestock. You’ll definitely find a market for the berries, that’s if your animals don’t devour it all first.
Conclusion
At the end of the day there’s a lot to be gained from planting trees. Not just because it adds relief to the current climate issues we’ve got. Surrounding your pens and land with trees for privacy, aesthetic and shade isn’t the only thing they can be good for, choose a species that can give you a free feed option too.
Even if you plant young saplings, it doesn’t mean you’ll be waiting years and years before they give you the financial relief and nutritional boost that your animals need. Any tree species will give you at least a small harvest after just a year, and after that, every year you’ll get more and more.
Trees and berries will almost always have more vitamins, minerals and medicinal value than any grass or hay ever would.
And just because we avoided fruit trees, doesn’t mean it’s not an option for you. Every farmer, large or small scale, knows that it’s all about the long game…putting the tools in place for your future and those that come after you. And if your space is too cramped to get an orchard down, you can probably spare a patch for shade and along your fence line at least, or seek out what’s growing in abundance naturally.
Put them down today, to save you a small fortune in feed and veterinary bills in the future!
