Another bread question..

[chicknmania]

We have always given our chickens bread crumbs as treats. Last summer we had some very greedy Golden Comet hens. One grabbed a half a piece of bread out of my daughter's hand, and ran away with it, chased by the others, of course. A day or two later two of our Golden Comets became ill and unable to get up. One died within a day or two, the other three or four days later. At the time we had no resource to know what to do or a clue what it was. Now I'm wondering...could it have been impacted crop that killed them? Would too much bread cause that? None of our other chickens became ill, and I'm pretty sure at least one of sick ones was one that got all that bread. We have been very careful with bread since then, although still give it sometimes.

 

[soonerdog]

Well, I'm like you. Puzzled! It makes you wonder if it maybe caused their deaths because the bread is the only thing that you did diffrently. I have always given my chickens some bread. Not much at a time and only now and again. I have never had any problems doing so. Was the bread in good condition with no molds or damp? I just don't know. I will be more cautious. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

I've been giving my girls lots of bread (in addition to their layer pellets) over the past 2 years and not had a problem. Not suggesting everyone does this, but just letting you know it hasn't killed anyone over here.

 

[CarriBrown]

I'm also puzzled.... The best thing to do (and I HOPE this never happens to you again) is to get a necropsy. There are usually state labs, vets or Universities that will do it for you.
I do think that chickens are just like us... too much of anything is not a good thing. If you haven't had problems since cutting back on bread, then it sounds like you're on the right track.

 

[chicknmania]

Yes, the bread was in good condition and they all had some, but I think just those two had the most. Now we are careful to make sure the bread is in small crumbs, and discourage them from jumping to get the bread out of our hands!

 

[soonerdog]

Good idea to break the bread into smaller pieces. Who knows maybe those few were so hoggish that they choked down too much at once. Maybe, just maybe their cause of death may have been because the bread went somewhere other than the crop, maybe some got in the lungs or something. Just a guess. Anyway, hope all goes well with your flock from now on. Johnny

 

[kstaven]

it may depend on the type and brand of bread also. White bread is very high in salt, sugars, and MSG(often listed as yeast extract and a hundred other names. All items you want to avoid with any birds.

If you get into the avian community dealing with Parrots you will find it well documented. More common with them of course, because owners share more food with their companion birds than chicken keepers do.