Feeding Dried Nettles to Livestock

Abstract

THE quantity of stinging nettles grown unwillingly throughout Great Britain must amount to a very considerable weight of material each year. What is its food value? According to average figures for the chemical composition of dried nettle leaves, they compare very favourably indeed with hay of good quality and would appear to be as good as clover, lucerne or sainfoin in their content of protein, while the fibre is generally shown to be lower in nettles than in hay, even when the latter is of a very good grade.