Growing Mangel Beets?

[BetterHensandGardens]

I'm planning to grow mangel beets this year in the garden, mostly for the chickens and goats, see here: http://www.betterhensandgardens.com/2011/05/11/growing-mangel-beets-for-chickens/
I was wondering if others had experience with this vegetable, and has anyone used them for anything other than feeding livestock? They were popular a long time ago, so I wondered what else they got used for?

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i bought some seeds this year too. if i read the package right you can harvest them small and early to use for human consumption. they are not like your traditional red beets, they are sweeter, more like a sugar beet but not as sweet as those!

 

[wifezilla]

There are quite a few people over on www.sufficientself.com growing mangle beets for their critters. With the price of feed likely to skyrocket, it sounds like a good thing to try.

 

[BetterHensandGardens]

There are quite a few people over on www.sufficientself.com growing mangle beets for their critters. With the price of feed likely to skyrocket, it sounds like a good thing to try.

Didn't think of trying over at sufficient.com on the mangel beet questions, thanks I'll try there.

 

[Northernrose]

I'm trying the mangles for the first time. I only planted a test batch and have 5 very healthy plants after thining the seedlings. I got the seeds from Baker Creek and they had a 100% germination rate. They are growing like weeds. My chickens like the greens too. If this "mini-crop" goes well I'll more next year in it's own bed.