I like to post a variety of content here on The Prairie Homestead, and for the most part, we keep it pretty light and fun. But every once and a while, I like to dive in a little deeper and explore the science behind some of my crazy natural choices. I am ecstatic to be welcoming Eric Zielinski back to the blog today. He is a health coach and skilled researcher who specializes in natural topics that are right up my alley! From time to time, he’ll be joining us and sharing some of his research, as is the case for today’s kelp post.
Have you fed your cows their kelp today?
I know… I may have just confirmed your suspicions that I’m a little bit off my rocker… but hear me out. 😉
In its most basic sense, kelp is simply a type of edible seaweed, and yes, some folks do indeed feed it to their livestock. Read on for details!
A Little Background on Kelp…
Kelp is a marine brown algae that is loaded with nutrition (more on that below!). It’s similar to nori, which is what sushi is traditionally wrapped in, but is used much differently. If the thought of you or your livestock eating sushi or seaweed grosses you out, then I have to warn you: you’re probably consuming kelp in one form or another on a regular basis!
Algin, an emulsifying and bonding agent, is extracted from kelp and is commonly used to make:
- Dairy products
- Frozen foods
- Puddings
- Salad dressings
- Shampoos
- Store-bought cakes & baked goods
- Toothpastes
- And even pharmaceuticals
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), each year 100,000 – 170,000 wet tons of kelp is harvested from California waters alone. It’s mind-blowing to think that we can use almost 3 million cubic feet from America’s West Coast underwater kelp forests!
Using Kelp for Livestock
Some of the more common reasons kelp is used for livestock include:
- Enhancing immune function
- Increasing meat quality
- Reversing depressed immune function
- Reducing the stress associated with weaning
- Weight gain
The Great Kelp Debate
You probably didn’t know this, but there has been a debate whether or not to feed kelp to livestock for over 100 years. It’s actually quite an interesting history lesson– here’s a quick run-down:
- It has been claimed that research conducted in the early twentieth century failed to support including seaweed into animal rations at high rates.
- In turn, dried seaweeds largely fell out of favor and authorities stopped recommending kelp as an animal feed source.
- Nonetheless, dried seaweeds and kelp meal were still held in high regard by scattered pockets of farmers and homesteaders as people insisted that it improved animal health and productivity.
- Later, in the 1970s, renewed interest in kelp as a rich source of over 60+ microelements was spurred on by groundbreaking research. Chelated micro mineral sources were discovered in various seaweeds that proved to be more efficient than conventional inorganic sources for microelement supplementation.
- Interesting, scientists forgot about kelp for a while and it was only just a few years ago that researchers were able to finally connect the dots and understand why seaweed supplementation led to prebiotic action and, thus, improved health in livestock.
- This spurred on another seaweed revival and research continues today to seek out the benefits of dried kelp in animal feed.
- Most recently, it has been discovered that various brown seaweeds actually contain such beneficial phlorotannins and antioxidants.
So, How Has The Natural Farming And Homesteading Community Responded To All Of This?
For the most part, we all support kelp supplementation. In his book, “You Can Farm”, Joel Salatin recommends using cold water Icelandic kelp that is geothermally dried because it preserves the nutrient content and is believed to be less contaminated with harmful pollutants.
Just some of the nutrition that makes kelp so popular with small farmers and homesteaders is due to the fact that it is rich in:
- Calcium
- Copper
- Dietary Sodium
- Fiber
- Folate
- Iodine
- Iron
- Magnesium
- Manganese
- Pantothenic Acid
- Riboflavin
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin K
- Zinc
It is almost impossible to find any livestock supplement that is so rich in macro and micronutrients! Really, at the end of the day there seems to be little reason why we should NOT feed our animals kelp.
Let’s see what the research has to say…
Digging into Kelp a Little Deeper
Just this past April, the International Animal Journal published a study evaluating seaweeds harvested from the Galician coast in Spain as a mineral source for organic dairy cattle. When comparing how cows supplemented with algae fared against those not fed kelp, the researchers discovered some interesting results:
The algae supplement significantly improved the animals’ mineral status, particularly iodine and selenium that were low on the farm. However, the effect of the algae supplement on the molybdenum status in cattle needs further investigation because of its great relevance on copper metabolism in ruminants. The iodine supply deserves special attention, since this element is at a very high concentration in brown-algae species and it is excreted in the milk proportionally to its concentration in plasma concentrations
Also published in April, a review out of the Journal of Applied Phycology claims that the studies on seaweed products for animals have shown that kelp and other seaweeds contain “prebiotic potencies at least five times that of the reference prebiotic inulin with additional performance-enhancing benefits in animal rations that rival antibiotic inclusions.”
Rival antibiotics? Yep! Prebiotics are fabulous and are actually required for maximal health.
Not to be confused with probiotics, prebiotics are specialized plant fibers that nourish the good bacteria already in the colon. These plant fibers are indigestible and they, in turn, “fertilizer” the good bacteria (probiotics) in the gut.
This is actually quite profound, as several animal and human studies have shown that prebiotics can help prevent:
- Irritable bowel (IBS), or inflammatory bowel disease
- Crohn’s Disease
- Ulcerative Colitis
- Leaky gut
- Colon polyps
- And even cancer
But Will My Livestock Even Eat Kelp?
I know, I know… Some of you out there are probably entirely non-impressed by this scientific stuff and just want to know the bottom-line results. And you’re probably questioning whether or not your livestock will even touch the stuff.
Good question.
What’s the use of all this nutrition if the cattle won’t even eat it, right? Thankfully, from my experience, that’s usually not a problem.
Check out this video to see a herd gathering around the free-choice mineral & kelp feeder for a mid-day snack.
My horses, cattle, goats, and chickens all love the free-choice kelp that I offer them. I try to keep it available to them at all times, and they even eat it faster than the free-choice mineral I offer alongside of it.
I’m a little leery of offering kelp as the ONLY mineral source for my animals at this point in time, since I first want to educate myself more thoroughly about the common mineral deficiencies in my area, and make sure that kelp will cover all of my bases. But I do know of other natural farmers who rely on kelp as their sole mineral source, and with a little more research, I might try to implement that sort of program down the road.
The Other Side of the Coin
One point we must all consider is that several studies have proved that seaweed and most fish carry dangerous amounts of toxic substances like mercury because of industry bi-products, oil spills and lots of trash being dumped into our fresh and salt waters.
Does this mean that California kelp is more toxic for us and our livestock and that Icelandic kelp is less polluted because it grows in the remote (more protected) frigid waters of the North Atlantic and Artic oceans? Maybe, maybe not. For me, I don’t want to take the risk and I’ll spend the extra money to feed my animals the best that I can afford.
(I personally purchase Thorvin® Icelandic kelp for my animals. It comes in 50 pound bags. You can see it here on Amazon (affiliate link), but I get mine from Azure Standard for much cheaper.)
So yes, I’m pretty sure this post about feeding seaweed to my cows has confirmed to many that I’m a little bit crazy… But, I’m pretty sure that’s part of the job description of being a homesteader, so I’m cool with it. 😉
Do you use kelp for your animals? Have you noticed a difference in your livestock’s health or production?
Resources:
- http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10811-013-0162-9
- http://www.google.com/patents/US6312709
- http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/animalscinbcr/231/
- http://www.google.com/patents/US6342242
- http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10811-013-0162-9#page-1
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24438753
- http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/pplkelp.html
- http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2617/2
Eric L. Zielinski is on a mission to help people live the Abundant Life. His expertise as a health coach, public health researcher, speaker and writer are in demand all over America, but his primary focus is showering his three children and lovely wife with the tools that they need to be healthy and successful. Check out his website www.DrEricZ.com and follow him on Facebook.
Thanks for the interesting article. I have sheep, and with the copper content it looks like sheep will NOT benefit from kelp in their diet. Carry on!
Actually, it looks as though kelp can indeed be fed to sheep: http://www.farmingmagazine.com/article-7669.aspx
Hey Jill, the link doesn’t lead to an article – it says page not found. I was also curious about this because I have sheep as well and they can have horrible reactions to high copper contents. In light, we aren’t supposed to give sheep anything with copper in it. But, I have also heard of other sheep owners feeding a free choice option of kelp. I feel like I’m hearing conflicting sides – any advice?
Look up a copper bolus (it’s a capsule that contains small copper particles that lodge in the lining and slowly release over months/year it is given to sheep and goats, goats need higher levels of course. Look up free choice minerals as well the idea of free choice is that the animals can self regulate what they are lacking. To do this correctly you should get your pasture tested to find out what micro and macro nutrients are present and at what levels, give the results to a animal nutritionist and they can help tell you what levels to provide to your herd if higher levels of one nutrient are present it can also block absorption of the another nutrient
I was wondering if anyone has any issues with little bugs flying above their kelp feeder?? I’m in California .. Central Valley, not sure how to get rid of them? I’m not sure what they are they kind of look like mosquitos? Thanks in advance!
Hi Jill,
In your research did you come across any folks harvesting local kelp for their livestock? Although the heavy metals may be a concern, we’re all about eating locally – our animals included – and we have plentiful kelp on our beaches in the Pacific Northwest. Maybe we should grab a bucketful next beach walk to dry and try out on our goats? Thanks for the great information!
– Katie and Mark
I didn’t see any articles about people harvesting their own, but I bet it’s very possible!
We feed our goats kelp – they love it. But I haven’t seen such a good research round-up before, thank you so much! I’ve pinned it to help spread the word :-).
Thanks for pinning Kimberly!
We have fed kelp to our whitetail deer in the past. My husband has some and I was wondering if it is ok to feed to my chickens?
I offer it to my chickens and they like it.
I know kelp is supposed to healthful food. But, I’ve haven’t thought about feeding kelp to the livestock. Do you think chickens can eat it? Horses?
Thanks, Jill.
P.S. I agree with Katie and Mark: There’s enough kelp on the north coast beaches to keep us all fortified for awhile 😀
Yep! My chickens and horses both eat it.
I would be concerned about the Fukoshima contamination washing off Northeast shores…and the more practical issue: how to dry it so it retains all the valuable nutrition? If I had a farm in Newfoundland up North then yes I would do it
I can not keep enough kelp out for my cattle and goats. They are eating it like candy… why do they eat so much of it. Why do they eat so much? They have other minerals out. Can they eat to much kelp? Another thing is we have hereford cattle have never had pink eye!!
Just wish it was cheaper. Lol.
I must be an even bigger nerd than I thought because I don’t have any livestock and I still read the whole thing just to see what your conclusion was. I find it fascinating how so many things that are considered “new” now were really done years ago. I’m with you I would probably stick to the Icelandic Kelp until more research came out! Thanks for helping me learn some new things 🙂
LOL– you crack me up Miss Cathy! 🙂
So how to tell the levels of radioactivity in the sea kelp? Any in the Pacific would be likely to be effected.
I would not want any seaweed from the north Pacific ocean because Fukushima is still pouring out radiation that is hitting our west coast every day . The latest die-off are sea slugs but previous to that starfish and sea lions.
People in the western states are not being told the truth about the environmental damage to our west coast. We actually get more news about it here in Texas.
I am a research dietitian and biologist. I have had dairy goats for 25 years now and also have poultry and horses. I feed Azomite to our animals and eat it myself. It comes from a prehistoric seabed in Utah. You don’t need to worry about radioactivity in you or your animals. Seaweed from the Atlantic is probably safe. The two oceans have very little water exchange.
Raw goats’ milk gets rid of cancer and arthritis , by the way. One of the best foods you can put in your body!
Blessings, Katy Behr
I want to start taking it but can’t find how much per day to start out with. What did you start with and what are you taking now.
this is very good website to used because got awesome and got information showing the animal
I searched Azure. Not available that I can see. for the Icelandic Kelp. Do you have another source? Thanks
Excellent information, thanks for the research and sharing, is there anything else we can feed chickens and miniature cows that’s similar to kelp, without the radioactive? Thanks again,. Star in Texas
Is there really copper in the kelp?
specifically this?
Azure Market Organics Kelp Granules, ASCO Animal (Blue Label), Organic
We raise sheep and the copper would not be a good thing,
Have a Great All
Kelp is expensive…. I was wondering if 5 lbs would be enough to get started feeding it to our goats? We have three full grown Nigerian Dwarfs and two three month old babies. I don’t know how much they will eat.
Yep, that’d be a good place to start.
From my experience, although kelp seems expensive – I buy Thorvin when it is available through Azure Standard (they don’t always have it). I can get Fertrell locally. Both are $70 for a 50-pound bag. We have 22 cows currently and that typically lasts us a couple of months – sometimes longer. When they are on hay, they will eat more but when they are back on grass, they eat very little. As I understand it, your animals will treat it like they do other mineral supplements and eat what they need of it. The first time we put it out for our cows, they gobbled it down like candy. We put out another bag the next day and they didn’t touch it for a couple of weeks. Now, as I said, a bag lasts us a couple of months.
Hello I know post is a couple years old. I was curious if you are still feeding kelp? If so what kind of results? Are you putting out salt also with the kelp?
Thanks for a reply Rodney
Hi Jill-
Thank you for your information. What kelp do you use for chickens?
thank you-
gina
I could not get to the info re copper in kelp as it applies to sheep. Having twice lost sheep to copper toxicosis i am leery of it.
Thanks for publishing this article. I’m not sure if my question was answered or not since my eyes tend to glaze over when scientific data crosses my doorstep. Anyway, here’s my situation which I hope you may clear up. I have 8 Nubian goats and seems that I need to copper bolus them a minimum of 3x / year. My friend just an hour away NEVER has to copper her herd. I feed mine kelp and she does not. Does kelp cleanse goats of their needed copper? Is that why I have to copper and she doesn’t? Do the benefits of kelp outweigh the need to copper if in fact this is true? Thanks
I hand pick brown kelp from our shores , wash it with fresh water and feed it to my pigs as a supplement to there daily rolled barley feed they love it and all look healthy producing large litters of between 12-16
Yes I agree
Do you have any info on feeding this to rabbits?
With horses you have to be careful of Kell’s high iodine content. Iodine toxicity has been observed in horses consuming as little as 40 mg of iodine a day. If your kelp offers them more than this, your aren’t doing them many favors, so I keep my dosage low for my guy!!
Is there a standard dosage key guideline for each type of animal that we can follow?
Pls share if so
Per day dose, per week? per month?
Would help newbies in the beginning stages…
Thanks.
Pat Coleby’s book Natural Goat Care also references feeding kelp as one of 4 free choice minerals. My goats love Thorvin kelp.
If grandma didn’t feed it to her chickens then I don’t feed it to mine. Chickens have been around for a long time without all this new homestead craze. Grow it in the garden and give it to them. Bugs, greens and oatmeal on the side!
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There’s a little island off the coast of Australia where the cows wander down to the beach and eat the raw kelp. It’s called king island and the beef, cheese, and cream there is second to none.
Hello. I see your article is a couple years old. Are you still put out kelp for your livestock? If so with what kind of results? Thanks for the informative article.
Rodney
Have you seen the photos of free walking cows eating Kelp at the ocean.
https://biohax.com.au/products/kelp
They instinctively know what is good for them and these animals (who are situated in India) know how to survive and thrive on the planets richest source of plant food.