Last updated on February 5th, 2022
Kale is a leafy cabbage-like vegetable that is extremely nutritious and calls for a well-balanced meal and provides necessary vitamins and minerals to the body. It is part of the cruciferous family of vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, etc.
Would you be surprised if we told you, just like us, certain animals eat kale to stay healthy? Here is a list of animals who feed on kale and like it enough to make it a part of their daily dietary preferences.
Animals that eat kale:
- Deer
- Guinea Pigs
- Slugs
- Rats
- Gophers
- Chickens
- Squirrels
- Gerbils
1. Deer
Deer eat a variety of things. Although kale isn’t one of their most favorite items, it is just one item that makes it to the list of delicacies for them.
However, kale makes up a major portion of food plots meant for deer. This is because kale contains almost 4.5 grams of protein for 100 grams of its leaves.
As a result, deer feed can include a lot of forage from the brassica family. They love having a bite of kale now and then.
And not just kale, deer just love to chew on leafy greens, including lettuce and spinach. But, unfortunately, this love for brassica in deer may be a tad too unbearable to tolerate, especially when these majestic creatures tend to ravage your gardens.
2. Guinea Pigs
Kale is a leafy and tough green from the brassica, or cabbage, family. It has been one of the top vegetables for quite some time now, especially because of the power-packed nutrients.
So naturally, especially since it has significant health benefits, it is a good option for guinea pigs. And they simply love to nibble away at such a tasty and juicy treat whenever these fluffy creatures get the opportunity.
Kale is practically a powerhouse of essential minerals and vitamins for guinea pigs. However, feeding guinea pigs kale alone is not recommended.
Instead, it must be supported with a diet of fruits, greens, hay, and vegetables. So go ahead and include some kale in the diet of your little cavies. They will simply love the palate.
3. Slugs
Slugs are absolute pests when it comes to kale. While caterpillars eat at the edges of the leaves, slugs make large and rounded holes in them. They also leave a trail of slime.
The damp and humid weather after the rains is a time when slugs love to go into action most. And kale is one of the most favorite items that slugs love to drill through.
They can ravage your garden of kale if not taken care of well on time. Both slugs and snails love partying in the dampest and darkest of places in the garden.
Many people make slug traps and dispose of them every morning in many ways, like feeding them to their chickens and ducks.
4. Rats
A very common question that people have been asking is whether rats can be fed kale. Kale is packed with an arsenal of vitamins and minerals. These are beneficial for your pet rat.
Unfortunately, however, they are equally good for the other rats too, and more often than not, those rats turn out to be pests that run rampant across your entire kale garden.
So it is only logical that people take precautions against these rodents and save their food plots from such pestilence.
Coming back to your pet rat, even overfeeding it is not a risk as kale is extremely low on fat and calories. Kale can be one of the healthiest items you can keep in your pet rat’s meals
5. Gophers
Gophers can be a curse to gardeners – rather, most gardeners curse gophers. The main reason to hate these animals is because of the pestilence they cause to gardens and plants.
They eat almost anything at all. Kale is only one of the many culinary loves of gophers. The kale is rich in nutritional value and is especially healthy too.
So it is only natural that gophers will thrive in a garden of kale. Therefore, you must always take ample precautions to protect your garden from gophers.
Install protective measures across your garden and keep it free of gophers as much as possible.
6. Chickens
Not only can chickens eat kale, but it is also a superfood for them, just like it is for us humans.
Both humans and chickens get many health benefits from this source of food that packs in a great power punch of vitamins and minerals while remaining extremely low on calories and fat.
Of course, you cannot expect to keep kale as the only food in a chicken’s diet, especially since they need a lot of other stuff to eat.
However, keeping kale along with corn in a chicken’s dietary requirements helps round off a great nutritional palate for your chickens.
So make sure you have included some kale, corn as well as rice in the daily diet of your chickens.
7. Squirrels
Having a high content of vitamins A, C, K, and a whole lot of minerals, kale is a superfood for humans and squirrels, especially if you own a pet squirrel.
Kale is only a part of the variety of vegetation that squirrels love to thrive in. While squirrels eat almost anything that they can get their paws on, kale happens to be one of the most preferred for them when other food sources are unavailable.
Another great content in kale leaves is calcium. However, too much kale may not be a good choice as it contains high amounts of oxalates.
8. Gerbils
Gerbils are a rodent variety that loves eating many things. Among the list of foods that a gerbil loves is kale.
They love eating kale, lettuce, and beet greens, apart from a variety of other things as well. With the high protein, minerals, and vitamins contained in kale, it is practically one of the best food sources for gerbils.
They will simply keep nibbling away sweetly, but at a feverish speed, at all the kale that you lay out for them – as if this were a kale-eating Olympic event that they need to win for their country’s honor.
However, you will love watching them eat at the kale served up. They look sweet when they eat this leafy brassica.
Conclusion
The animals that eat kale are deer, guinea pigs, slugs, rats, gophers, chickens, squirrels, and gerbils, while some wild animals like opossums will eat leafy greens such as kale and spinach occasionally.