Can chickens eat Cress microgreens?

[Chicken love to infinity]

A friend gave me these super spicy microgreens, but I didn't like them. I started a tray for my chickens and packed it really thick to not waste any soil, and the chickens don't care if a little soil is in their microgreens. Originally, I was just going to dump them in the run but now I realized they have Cress in them, and after doing some research they should only have cress in limited quantities. Should I still give it to them but just break it up for several days? What do you think?

The mix is Cress Seeds, Radish, Mustard, Turnip & Arugula seeds.​

 

[Iluveggers]

I would give them a little every day. It’s a mix of seeds, so not straight cress. The only seeds I wouldnt sprout for the hens are legumes because the dry ones can be dangerous. I doubt the whole thing would be harmful, but small amounts daily seems to be the most cautious way to use them up.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Why is cress greens or cress seeds dangerous to poultry or chickens. Can you please share a link that explains it? I could not find anything on the internet that explained it.

 

[Chicken love to infinity]

I would give them a little every day. It’s a mix of seeds, so not straight cress. The only seeds I wouldnt sprout for the hens are legumes because the dry ones can be dangerous. I doubt the whole thing would be harmful, but small amounts daily seems to be the most cautious way to use them up.

Thanks!

 

[Chicken love to infinity]

Why is cress greens or cress seeds dangerous to poultry or chickens. Can you please share a link that explains it? I could not find anything on the internet that explained it.

https://birdcageshere.com/2022/03/02/can-chickens-eat-watercress/


I skimmed over the water cress section of this article, but after re-reading they should be fine in limited quantity .

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thanks for that link. The way I read that is pretty much how many of us suggest on here. Moderation good, excess bad.

Practically everything we eat as well as what we give to the chickens contains something potentially harmful. That includes things considered very healthy. The key is dosage. I'll use white potatoes as an example. Regular white potatoes (mashed, boiled, French fries) contain a substance, solanine that can harm people as well as chickens. But for you to eat enough solanine to harm yourself, a normal healthy human would need to eat about 50 pounds at one sitting. I can't eat that much. Your chickens can't eat enough to harm themselves either. But if those potatoes are sunburned and green, they have that poison concentrated to a point that they are dangerous. You can see a lot of warnings on this forum about feeding your chickens white potatoes. The dosage in regular white potatoes is not a problem, the dosage in sunburned green potatoes is. When someone warns you that white potatoes contain poison they are right, but they don't contain enough that it is a problem.

I would not be concerned about giving them some cress every day, just don't overdo it.