Bread, tomato vines as livestock feed?

[Shiloh Acres]

I have a HUGE bag of bread that is not for human consumption, and a garden full of tomatoes playing out.

I know bread isn't a good feed. And I thought tomato vines are toxic. Is there a way I can put these to use? (other than compost?) I have chickens, geese, guineas, goats, rabbits, llamas, and soon quail.

Thanks!!!

 

[freemotion]

Although my goats have eaten my tomato vines with no visible ill effects, I'd be reluctant to purposely feed them to them...although it depends on the quantity. One plant for a few goats a day, ok.

As for bread, I feed that only to animals who won't have a long life, like my pigs. There is very little nutrition in most bread that is available in the stores today and much that is in there is very bad for one's health. Of course, if I could get some day-old Ezekiel bread or Alvarado Street Bakery bread, everyone here who gets grain would get bread instead.....free food!

But the prevalance of "lifestyle disease" (primarily caused by diet) in humans makes me careful not to feed my animals anything that is a cause in today's typical American diet.

I do get some free white bread, and that is offered to the pigs. I am ok with them getting fat! They don't care for it, interestingly enough.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

Thanks, Free. That's what I thought about the tomatoes. I have a LOT of tomato vine out there. Probably it's going to be mostly composted. Well, I guess they can munch the pepper plants and what veggies are leftover.

That's pretty much what I thought on the bread too. It's just plain white bread. Buns actually. They smell so fresh! But I can't stand the thought of anyone filling up on them. I did give a few bits as treats, and the geese and goats almost came to blows over is. Even the guineas ate crumbs, and I can barely get them to eat ANYthing. If I were to let them, they'd probably all gorge on it. Only the llama had the sense to turn up her nose.

I have lots of animals but I'm not sure I can put that muchbread to use. It would definitely replace some meals. Everyone to be slaughtered already has been except one excess roo and possibly a few more rabbits. And I'm not going to waste freezer space on it till next year.

Odd that the pigs won't eat it. I'd heard rats don't like white flour products either. Guess they have more dietary sense than my piggy little goats and geese!

Maybe I'll dig out that recipe for craft dough from bread and take it up to the kids at school.

thanks!!!

 

[SKR8PN]

Dry the bread and feed it to the wild birds.
All of my tomato vines succumbed to the rototiller.

 

[Oberhaslikid]

I dont feed tomato vines to the goats I do let them have the tomatoes.
I do get a cart of bread at the bread store. I feed as a treat,with a bread bag in hand. I can train my flock and the goats with the bread.
I also use it to worm the goats with. I put the wormer in a slice of bread and offer to the goat they eat it down and dont even realize they were just wormed.

 

[FarmerChick]

animals are like people--they learn to eat what is given them from birth. never do I give my livestock scrap foods (just me lol)

when not given junk like store bread, eventually they will not touch it.

my herd of goats never were given anything but pasture and some feed near kidding or winter.....and after a few years I took them some old bread on a whim and NOT ONE goat would eat it----smart goats haha


I don't feed bread to anything, especially my hogs. anything other than good old natural feed stuffs changes the taste of the meat when processed

if it seems "still very fresh" and is not green and moldy and yucky, make croutons...toast in the oven and bag them up...yummy with tons of spice on them.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

Thanks for the ideas, y'all!

I hadn't even thought ofthe wild birds. The guineas go everywhere and would probably get some but everyone else I can keep out. It would be fun to feed wild birds out front. Pickings are soon to be slim for them.

And I'm sure I COULD use it to worm the goats. They seem to adore the stuff! Good idea since nothing else I regularly feed them would work that way. I might could use it to get the guineas in the coop too since they started camping out a few nights ago and absolutely refuse to be cooped. Bread-fed guineas are better than dead ones.

Handy thought of croutons either, since they were adamant it wasn't for people. I think they were placed in bags that were not perfectly sealed is the only reason. But they can't have been there long. My car smelled like a bakery after driving home with them and they are very soft.

I don't think my goats have ever had bread. I know my geese and guineas haven't. I give them ONLY pasture, forage, hay, pelleted feed, older fruits and veggies, and a little grain. I have never given them scraps of any kind. The chickens DO get scraps, because I've always done that, but it's pretty much all healthy stuff and no junk. The worst they normally get are leftover tortilla bits.

Maybe the animal cookies I bought to try training the goats? But only my piggiest goat would eat them. They DO want the bread though. That's just way too much bread for me to want to give them. I've always worried about those poor animals I used to take my daughter to visit -- duck ponds, etc -- that seem to live on a diet of stale bread that everyone brings them.

Oh, and yes, I might as well rotorill in the tomatoes rather than pull them and carry them to the compost pile.

thanks all of you for the great responses!

 

[tortoise]

I've read several places that grren parts of tomatoes (leaves, vines, etc) are toxic to RABBITS, so I don't give them that. I did give them red tomatoes once and they ALL refused them after a few bites. First time to turn down fresh food. ... ??

 

[FarmerChick]

Oh Shiloh---you got this bread from a bakery and they said it wasn't good....then yea, I wouldn't be eating it LOL I thought it was leftover bread from your home lol

if from another source, yea I wouldn't be making croutons from it either hahaha


I never have leftover bread in the house....before it goes "really" bad something is done with it for human consumption

 

[Beekissed]

My sheep can consume approx. 120-150 tomato plants in two days....with no ill effects. They've done this for two years in a row now and I will most certainly continue to let them clean up my garden in this manner.

As for one big bag of bread? Its not like you will be incorporating this into your permanent feeding regimen. I say give it to whatever animal will consume it at the time. Chickens, dogs, or sheep...when I have leftover bread, I dole it out like treats.

Of course, it usually isn't a huge bag!