Can chickens eat pesto?

[doughouse]

I was putting food scraps in a bowl for my flock when my wife, thinking it was for compost, tossed in some pesto leftover from dinner last night. That's fine for the chickens, right?

 

[SueT]

I wouldn’t give salty/oily foods to my chickens. Re basil, there was at one time, a volunteer basil plant growing in our run, and they wouldn’t eat it….

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

It's okay in moderation. Just don't let each chicken have their own little pesto dinner lol.

 

[SourRoses]

Uhh ohh, they're going to turn into Italians now... Garlicky eggs forever!

 

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

I gave my chickens a little left over pesto pasta and they loved that treat! Perfectly fine to add into the scraps container.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

There are dozens of chicken pesto recipes online....oh wait, I think I misread the question.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Yes, I definitely prefer seasoning ON the birds, not IN the birds.

No, as a one time thing, Pesto won't hurt your birds. More frequently, the basil is no concern, if they will eat it at all. The garlic isn't either, in the typical recipe. "Death by Garlic"*, now you are at potentially concerning levels long term. The worst two components of the pesto for your chickens are the salt and the olive oil - and in moderation, olive oil has its uses in feed (if expensive). Meaning SALT. Salt is your only real concern.

Your birds will be fine.

*"Death by Garlic" is a spreadable paste of mayo-like consistency made by aggressively crushing a large amount of fresh garlic in a molcajete or similar, together with sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper and olive oil until creamy and completely emulsified. The first ingredient is garlic, NOT oil.

 

[SourRoses]

*"Death by Garlic" is a spreadable paste of mayo-like consistency made by aggressively crushing a large amount of fresh garlic in a molcajete or similar, together with sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper and olive oil until creamy and completely emulsified. The first ingredient is garlic, NOT oil.

That's just diluting perfection. I take mine whole.
But I don't offer the chickens my moms garlic cream sauce with a whole bulb (not clove) in there, because 1. it's mine. 2. by the time I might be willing to part with it, it's not as fresh. 3. The onion makes me wonder.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

That's just diluting perfection. I take mine whole.
But I don't offer the chickens my moms garlic cream sauce with a whole bulb (not clove) in there, because 1. it's mine. 2. by the time I might be willing to part with it, it's not as fresh. 3. The onion makes me wonder.

I would wholeheartedly agree with you, excepting that I like a certain creaminess on my sandwiches that whole cloves do not provide. Smashed roasted garlic works well, but is not suitable for all sandwich types - can be very sweet.

1. Agree, chickens should respect boundaries and property rights.

2. Very good of you to consider their wellbeing (physically, by keeping them from stale foods and mentally by keeping them from truly knowing what they are missing)

3. That would require a LOT of onion to be concerning, and concerns decrease rapidly with cooking, somewhat slower with aging. ...For future reference.

 

[Sally PB]

"Death by Garlic"

Hmmm... Death by garlic, or death by chocolate... Which one to choose...