corn stalks, sunflower stalks?

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ohiogoatgirl

ohiogoatgirl

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well the corn was a bust this year. sunflowers did okay but i wasnt here to harvest them so... i have enough to plant next year but none to feed. the corn stalks didnt get real tall. hardly grew a tiny cob. but anyhow... i am going to cut them and stick the stalks in a barn. i can feed them to the goats but i was wondering if i could feed them to rabbits when i get them? they have dried in the feild. i'm also hoping to cut all the weeds from the garden and stash them for suppliments.
i'm getting rabbit stuff for christmas. all i have to do is get the area set up and then get rabbits. more on this in a topic i'll be posting next in the colony section.
thanks!
 
My buns like the sunflower stalks- when they are big and woody, they pretty much strip off the outer layer and leave most of the pithy interior. They eat the smaller stems though, and enjoy the flower heads too, even though the wild birds ate the seeds.
 
In Virginia, Corn failed last year and I told my fiance do not go into corn stocks this year, they will fail again. Lo and behold, corn failed miserably this year as well. Not enough rain with too much dry burning heat.
Saw a house with some sunflower plants, those got to the flower, then failed.
Can't help w/what they can eat.
 
I gave my buns the fresh corn stalks after picking the sweet corn. They loved them!

For dried stalks in the field... you have to be careful, because there's a fungus that grows on corn that is lethal to rabbits.
 
Most of the time the stalks are too short or smashed in to the dirt after harvesting which creates the risk of mold. Green stalks make great food but unless a section of the field gets missed and there are upright stalks I probably wouldn't risk the dry corn. Moldy corn poisoning happens to some livestock let loose to clean up the corn fields every year. It causes encephalitis and mimics rabies which makes it dangerous to deal with. The livestock vets around here get vaccinated for rabies every year just in case it turns out not to be caused by mold. I've never seen a horse go so insane as the one the clinic got in when I was taking classes by that equine vet. It was quietly standing in it's mostly enclosed stall looking miserable when it just charged forward breaking the 2x4's and then bouncing off all the walls in blind panic until they threw him to the ground and ended up euthanizing. Then tested for rabies. Luckily we all didn't have to get shots. Scary stuff that makes me extra cautious when feeding grains and legumes.
 
Wow, what a sobering tale, akane. A crazed horse is definitely not on my list of favorite things in the workplace.

Important for people to keep in mind for their own safety as well. There are some that believe Ergot poisoning (fungus that affects rye) was responsible for the Salem Witch hangings...
 
wow...

well the corn stalks are still standing. i think i'll save them next year. cut em and store em after i harvest the corn. just to be safe... is there anything like that with other plants? i was hoping to cut cattails and some standing weed areas. (which there is plenty of on 250 acres!) thanks!
 
This time of year, the cattails and weeds will have little nutrition left in them. You need to harvest and dry them away from direct sunlight while they are still growing to preserve maximum nutrition. It is easy enough just to harvest extra plants while foraging for your rabbits. I dry a lot of them in the large mesh onion or orange bags. They are great as they allow good air circulation if not overfilled.
 
hm... thats a good idea.
adding onion and potatoe bags to my pack rat list ;D
right along with 2 liters, 20 oz bottles, ice cream buckets, bale twine, and a long list of other things. hee hee
 
oh yes-- cut and dry corn stalks while they are still green-- And, if you have bird seed, Sorghum/milo is wonderful if you find it sprouting under the feeders! (looks like corn plants)
 
Frosted Rabbits":27eijw97 said:
if you have bird seed, Sorghum/milo is wonderful if you find it sprouting under the feeders! (looks like corn plants)
Click to expand...

Ah-hah!!! So that's what that is!!! I've had a few pop up here and there, but had no idea what it was.
 
really? i did a little experiment. planted some bird seed in a box in my windowsill. just to see if it would grow. well it is. but it looks like grass. the bird seed was milo, wheat, millet and cracked corn i believe. i picked out the corn bits mostly though. interesting...
 
the milo/sorghum is a small, round, yellow seed, while millet is a bit darker- more brownish-- YOUNG sorghum/milo can look like gras, at the start, since it IS a grass! Thistle seed in bird feed has been sterilized by irradiation ( USDA regulations )
 
Frosted Rabbits":3k7j0dnj said:
Thistle seed in bird feed has been sterilized by irradiation ( USDA regulations )
Click to expand...

:evil: Please give me one good reason for that.

I stumbled across this while trying to find out if lentils are safe to feed. Thanks so much... I was in a good mood! Grrrrrrr.
 
Frosted Rabbits":19gla0tp said:
Thistle seed in bird feed has been sterilized by irradiation ( USDA regulations )
Click to expand...

MamaSheepdog":19gla0tp said:
:evil: Please give me one good reason for that.

I stumbled across this while trying to find out if lentils are safe to feed. Thanks so much... I was in a good mood! Grrrrrrr.
Click to expand...

I could be wrong, but I think it is to control the spread of thistles, which are considered a noxious weed in many places. I remember reading about a homesteader who was faced with an order to remove acres of thistle overgrowth from her land... at a horrendous cost.
 
thistle is its own curse word in certian places. i've seen several yards that just stopped getting mowed because the thistle just kept growing in stronger. ever tried to throw a bale that was about half full of thistles? not fun stuff....
 

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