Are there veggie plants that are not good to feed? pea plants?

[lisamr]

I know my chickens love shelled peas but can they have the actual pea plant with some blossoms still on them too? My plants are just about done but still are tall and green and I thought it would be a great treat but i did not know if they were safe for them to eat. Besides raw potatoes, that i understand are not good for them, is there other veggie garden plants to steer away from? They have been loving the cabbage, lettuce and boy those pumpkins but they like those cooked first. Thanks for any info.

 

[digitS']

Peas can be grown as a forage crop or as hay for livestock. The garden pea is just one of the varieties. There are some plants that we call "peas" that are not Pisum sativum but you seem to be talking about plants from your veggie garden.

About the only toxic vegetable garden plants I can think of are those in the nightshade family (potatoes, peppers, eggplant, tobacco). The only toxic part of potato plants is the green part and I believe that is true with the others.

Here's a UCDavis website on toxic plants that seem to emphasize the ones we might find around the house.

Steve

 

[rdranch]

Pea plants were the first green food ours girls ever had. They very quickly took a shine to it.

I have even sprouted flats of it in the winter for them to munch on. However they tore up all the planting mix before they ate all the plants!

We sell seeds for two companies so there is no shortage of free seeds.

 

[ooptec]

Hey,

I got a load of screenings from the seed cleaners and it had a lot of peas in it. At first the older hens didn't care for it but the chicks grew up w/it and now eat it w/same gusto as everything else in the grain mix I make for them. Well..... that's not strictly true as the corn goes first.

They care for less the commercial feeds either the layer mash or layer supplement so now that the green plants are gone here and I want to keep the yolks nice and orange for the folks, I make up a treat pan w/reconstituted alfalfa pellets mixed w/cooked pumpkin, whatever veggies were in the mark down bin in the stupor store diced up and any left over grease from cooking as well as powdered eggshells.

cheers