How poisonous are tomato vines - WAS - Garden leavings...

[modenacart]

Yes, just don't keep giving them large amounts of it. Like most anything, a little of it doesn't really do much harm.

 

[moodusnewchick]

I believe the tomato issue is a "nightshade family" issue. Mine eat tomatoes in moderation.

 

[CarlaRiggs]

My pullets love fresh tomatoes; at first they would only eat them from my hand. Then they discovered them on the tomato plants in the yard.

I had rabbits that could mow down foot high tomato plants overnight. A real treat for them was fresh tomato vines tossed into their cages. The thick, heavy vines weren't really eaten (they grow easily to 8 or 10' here in so. Cal), but the tender leaves and tomatoes in all stages were.
No problems whatsoever.

Carla

 

[Heather J]

I never heard this about tomato vines until recently. Last fall I pulled the vines out of the ground and hauled them to the chicken coop for the birds. Yhey stripped every last leaf off and no one got sick. It was a huge vine, but I had nearly two dozen birds munching on it, so they probably didn't get much at a time, as I gave them some several times as I stripped the edible fruit off as I pulled them up (the plants had been covered by blankets at night to get them to keep growing longer, but it was just time to give in before it snowed.).

 

[hcammack]

they are fine and not poisonous !

 

[ZooMummzy]

I'm a little late but I just ran across this post while looking for what not to feed the girls from the garden. My chickens have been eating tomato leaves all summer long and are perfectly fine. They won't eat the stems but they strip everything else off. I'm not really sure why some sites say they are toxic.

 

[gunnermccaw]

My chickens are 8 weeks old. I just started giving them occasional fruit veggie treats. I have 8 so they have to share a lot. They eat tons of their chick starter as well. I am wondering if I am starting this at too young an age. I was sitting next to the enclosed run and one grabbed a blade of grass sticking through the fence and all heck broke loose. They all wanted that grass. I pulled a piece for everyone and they gobbled it up like it was the last morsel of food on earth. So I came inside to see if they were suppose to eat grass. I know they forage when they get older, but are they too young for even grass? Thanks

 

[jentralala]

They're plenty old enough to be eating treats, especially yummy grass! Iwould make sure to supply them with some grit though, to help them digest. I started taking my chicks out around 2 weeks old to munch on grass, bugs, and treats.

 

[gunnermccaw]

Great! Thank you

 

[6of6chicks]

I'm a little late but I just ran across this post while looking for what not to feed the girls from the garden. My chickens have been eating tomato leaves all summer long and are perfectly fine. They won't eat the stems but they strip everything else off. I'm not really sure why some sites say they are toxic.

This is an interesting read:

http://www.gardenbetty.com/2013/08/tomato-leaves-the-toxic-myth/