PLANTS POISONIOUS TO POULTRY

[JennsPeeps]

Hrm... from that list my chickens have eaten quite a number of these:

Bracken or Brake Fern (Pteridium aquilinum L.)
Buttercup (Ranunculus spp.)
Clover, Alsike & Other Clovers (Trifolium hybridum L. & other species)
Daffodil (Narcissus spp.)
Fireweed (Kochia scoparia L.)
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea L.)
Larkspur (Delphinium spp.)
Lily-of-the-Valley (Convallaria majalis)

Luckily they havne't eaten enough to get sick and the rest is all gone.

 

[Uppity Peon]

There is a lot of clover in my lawn, but I'm not going to worry about it. The chicks have been eating it already and seem fine. I would be more concerned about the herbicides it would take to eradicate the clover.

 

[Mahonri]

Wow, no St. John's Wart?

But what if they get depressed?!!

 

[montyhp]

They all seem fine today. I guess Lantana berries are not deadly.

montyhp

Quote:

 

[ChickenCharmer]

Er, does TOXIC mean FATAL? Can chickens recover from any of these? Or do they all kill them?

 

[MoodyChicken]

Quote:
No, just means it will cause symptoms. They are fatal at different levels depending on the plant. My chicks ate a single flower of a Lily of the Valley plant and that knocked them out for two days (convulsions, coma, the works), but they recovered. In any poisoning you want to dilute the poision to a safe level... so give plenty of fluids.

 

[ChickenCharmer]

Thanks, whew!

 

[whatthecluck]

hmmmm...I weeded my garden and brought them armfuls of daffodill greens cut off

they had diarrhea but that was all? phew!

 

[FabulousMandy]

Quote:

 

[digitS']

So many of these plants make it on a list because of the poisoning of animals grazing of pasture that's under some kind of stress. Flooding, drought, and over-fertilizing can make the most appropriate and useful forage, toxic.

I find it interesting that this thread has posts showing that chickens have eaten things that did, indeed, cause symptoms and even death. With only a limited need to forage because of free-choice commercial feed and because chickens aren't really "grazing" animals, backyard flocks probably aren't too inclined to get such a load of toxic material that it makes them sick.

It doesn't help that we can't ask chickens if eating something gave them a stomach ache. Even if it causes lesions in their mouths and throats, we may not know. And, if they eat the toxic plant whenever they have a chance - we may not realize that it is really interfering with their production and health. Would it surprise us if they didn't have a clue, either??

Caution is called for and, certainly, giving a bored, penned chicken something toxic to peck at is not a good idea.

Steve