Cabbage poisonous?

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Hey folks, for some vacation reading I picked up a copy of Hobby Farm's Magazine "Chickens". On page 74, under the heading "Potentially Poisonous Plants" it lists both cabbage and broccoli as considered poisonous to poultry according to the Cornell University Department of Animal Science. I found this astounding, since I feed cabbage scraps to my chickens fairly regularly.

On page 83, however in an article about chicken keeper Terry Golson, Terry states "I have figured out many ways to enrich the hens' lives - even when confined to a pen because of predators - including hanging cabbages so the hens can play a gousing game of "chicken tetherball."

So...Chicken magazine full of...potentially poisonous advice?

Any thoughts? What gives?

 

[speedy2020]

Not sure, but I feed my chickens cabbage when I have extra. I should do some research on the subject.

 

[bj taylor]

I don't have any facts. the only thing I know is my chickens won't touch cabbage. the brats just ignore it.

 

[pbjls]

very few studies on cabbage as poultry feed. while I don't think it is poisnous, the littlie evidence I see is that in hog diets even low amounts caused reduced weight gain. I would infer from that that it has a low feed value for poultry as they have similar requirments to hogs.

 

[swede-murphy]

Hmmmm, my chickens love cabbage and related veggies. I left some in the garden (surplus) and they ate them down to the dirt. They get ALL the kitchen scraps, and they seem to like them, including raw potato peelings which have also been reported to be "poisonous." Cabbage is good for people, lots of vitamins, fiber, nutrients, I cannot imagine it would be dangerous to chickens; perhaps if you force-fed them a constant diet of cabbage it may do them harm! We worry too much about such things, and there are too many misleading web sites out there. Just ask an old farmer or someone raised on a ranch!

 

[wolfpup]

As a newbie with chickens I have been reading just about anything I can about feeding and nutrition - I had not read anything bad abut feeding them cabbage - indeed I give mine about four cabbage leaves every day (one each to prevent squabbling) and a couple of hours later there is nothing left - the only thing they appear to like more is carrot tops - only the stork is left. However I bought some live mealworms for them as I had read on here that they love them. I was amazed to see my normally quite placid girls turn into voracious raptors - they could not get enough of them

so thanks for the tip.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Practically anything you eat contains something that can harm you if you eat it in great enough quantities. Cabbage has something in it that can harm your thyroid and your chicken’s thyroid. For it to hurt you, you would have to eat a few pounds every day for a few weeks. Constipation would probably get you before your thyroid started acting up. Your chickens would have to eat a whole lot of cabbage on a regular basis for it to harm them. The solution is ………………………….. (are you ready for it)………………………………………give them something to eat in addition to cabbage. Don’t make cabbage their sole diet. Think in terms of moderation, not stuffing them with cabbage or any one thing.

It’s not potato peels that are dangerous, it’s GREEN potato peels. When potatoes are exposed to the sun, they turn green and also produce a toxic substance that also makes them taste bitter. One bite won’t kill you or your chickens, but it is best to avoid GREEN potato peels. The toxic substance is called Solanine.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

very few studies on cabbage as poultry feed. while I don't think it is poisnous, the littlie evidence I see is that in hog diets even low amounts caused reduced weight gain. I would infer from that that it has a low feed value for poultry as they have similar requirments to hogs.

Hmmm, perhaps I need to include more cabbage in my OWN diet, because reduced weight gain would be a plus!

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

The solution is ………………………….. (are you ready for it)………………………………………give them something to eat in addition to cabbage. Don’t make cabbage their sole diet. Think in terms of moderation, not stuffing them with cabbage or any one thing.

Thanks for the wise advise. I give my chickens kitchen scraps and other non-chicken-feed treats for three reasons; 1) I figure it is an interesting break for them, 2) it makes me feel happy and ecofriendly to turn what would be trash or compost into eggs and 3) I figure that especially in the winter, when there is so little for them to eat rather than commercial chicken food, the scraps are part of what keeps their eggs tasting soooooo much better tha store purchased eggs. Since we don't eat the same things every day, the scraps include all sorts of vegetable matter so I probably don't have to worry too much about too much cabbage or brocoli for their health.

However, I did freeze a bunch of turnip and beet greens, as well as a bunch of pumpkin so that I'd have something to add to their morning hot-mash every day i the winter, even if we didn't generate any interesting scraps. So, they do get more turnip and beet greens and pumpkin than probably any other type of garden produce. Turnips were also one of the things listed with cabbage as potentially toxic. Do you think turnip greens...maybe a generous handful among 8 chickens, maybe three mornings a week constitutes too much. I'm guessing it fits in the "moderation" category.

 

[oldrooster]

I was wondering if they meant fermented or perhaps cooked cabbage was bad, something perhaps changeing during the cooking or fermenting process? raw I can't see how...