Chickens dying from eating poisonous things

[WhetzelMomma]

Quote:
Not sure how serious you were about this Q, but chickens have pretty powerful beaks. If they had time, they could easily get pieces off of a fresh pit. If it's where they could get it, and they were interested, they could do it. Even if it was bit by bit. No idea what it would do to them, because I've never tried it, but based on other things that my chickens can do with their beaks, I'd say they could pick a pit apart and eat it.

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

Quote:
No idea, it was just an observation I made. The 3 dead grackles were found over the course of several months. The flesh of the fruit isn't good for them birds, but it shouldn't kill them. The skin and the pit on the otherhand will caue cardiac distress and eventual heart failure for birds.

I was trying to be facetious but apparently I missed. Your 2 post seem not support each other. The first makes it sound like the death of the birds coincided with the fruiting of the tree. The second post says the dead birds were found over a period of several months. I sometimes find dead birds in my yard but I don't have an Avocado tree.
Your first post says you were "pretty sure" they had fed off the fruit that had fallen to the ground. What made you so sure?
The first post says Avocado is poisonous, the second says it isn't good for birds. Which is it? Cheeseburgers may not be good for me but that doesn't make them poisonous [thank goodness].
Your first post says you 'know for a fact" Avocados are poisonous to all birds. Your second post says It isn't good for them but it shouldn't kill them. Most confusing.
As to the pits being poisonous to chickens I've asked on other posts, how would a chicken go about eating an Avocado pit?
Bottom line-Avocados aren't poisonous to birds. As someone else here said, if you can eat it they can eat it.
I wish people wouldn't state absolute facts when they don't really know what they're talking about.

Google it then if you're unsure? Seems like you simply skimmed through my post and made accusations and attempted to "nicely" insult me. First post, avocados in general are toxic to birds. Second post? The pulp, meat, flesh, etc, is simply not good to feed at all due to risks of persin (the toxic substance to birds) seeping into it from the skin or pit. But there are people who have fed avocados without harm, but that doesn't mean it's harmless? The skin and pit are what you should look out for. For my avocado tree, it produced fruit during spring, summer, and fall, meaning there was months of opurtunity. The grackles are there every year, only that year I found several dead and that year was the first time the tree gave fruit. They spend a lot of time in my front yard, where the tree is. Also, did I say I was absolutely sure their deaths were due to the fruit? No, but it ranked pretty high on the list of possibilties. The fruit produced came in all different sizes, each one with a pit ranging from the sie of a marble to one the size of a baseball. For the smaller ones, the birds can easily swallow it hole. I've seen them swallow acorns whole with ease. Even a chicken can rip off chunks, the pit isn't rock hard. "If you can eat it they can eat it". Does that mean I can feed my birds chocolate? It annoys me that whenever someone finds what they think is a mistake, they jump all over it.

 

[Boo-Boo's Mama]

I had a Coyote Tomato to come up volunteer from last year's compost pile. This is a very small (smaller than some grapes) yellow, very sweet tomato. I have been giving the girls tomatoes from this plant...they love them. Also I gave my girls raw beans fresh from the vines this Summer...never seemed to bother them. Mine love the raw blackeyed peas from our garden; I have to count my fingers after taking these into the run.

 

[FrizzlesRule]

NEVER give uncooked rice to your chickens.

I've also heard not to give them chocolate. Glad I stopped giving them M&M's, they loved them.

 

[NYREDS]

Quote:
I was trying to be facetious but apparently I missed. Your 2 post seem not support each other. The first makes it sound like the death of the birds coincided with the fruiting of the tree. The second post says the dead birds were found over a period of several months. I sometimes find dead birds in my yard but I don't have an Avocado tree.
Your first post says you were "pretty sure" they had fed off the fruit that had fallen to the ground. What made you so sure?
The first post says Avocado is poisonous, the second says it isn't good for birds. Which is it? Cheeseburgers may not be good for me but that doesn't make them poisonous [thank goodness].
Your first post says you 'know for a fact" Avocados are poisonous to all birds. Your second post says It isn't good for them but it shouldn't kill them. Most confusing.
As to the pits being poisonous to chickens I've asked on other posts, how would a chicken go about eating an Avocado pit?
Bottom line-Avocados aren't poisonous to birds. As someone else here said, if you can eat it they can eat it.
I wish people wouldn't state absolute facts when they don't really know what they're talking about.

Google it then if you're unsure? Seems like you simply skimmed through my post and made accusations and attempted to "nicely" insult me. First post, avocados in general are toxic to birds. Second post? The pulp, meat, flesh, etc, is simply not good to feed at all due to risks of persin (the toxic substance to birds) seeping into it from the skin or pit. But there are people who have fed avocados without harm, but that doesn't mean it's harmless? The skin and pit are what you should look out for. For my avocado tree, it produced fruit during spring, summer, and fall, meaning there was months of opurtunity. The grackles are there every year, only that year I found several dead and that year was the first time the tree gave fruit. They spend a lot of time in my front yard, where the tree is. Also, did I say I was absolutely sure their deaths were due to the fruit? No, but it ranked pretty high on the list of possibilties. The fruit produced came in all different sizes, each one with a pit ranging from the sie of a marble to one the size of a baseball. For the smaller ones, the birds can easily swallow it hole. I've seen them swallow acorns whole with ease. Even a chicken can rip off chunks, the pit isn't rock hard. "If you can eat it they can eat it". Does that mean I can feed my birds chocolate? It annoys me that whenever someone finds what they think is a mistake, they jump all over it.

Is chocolate poisonous too in your world? BTW-use your spell check, you paid for it.
You know what annoys me? People who have done something for a very limited time, who know very little about that something but they think they're in a position to argue mindlessly with people who actually do know something about the subject. Somhow it's even more annoying when it's a kid whose parents didn't teach him any manners.
You're the proud owner of a duck. I've bred & raised hundreds. You have 10 chickens I've raised thousands beginning long before you were born so where do you get off thinking you know more about this than I do.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
A lot has to do with the type of rice you are feeding. There is some feeds that contain whole polished rice in it.

Breeder/Conditioner - 16% Protein - NO CORN
Contains: Canada Peas, Red Milo, White Kafir, Maple Peas, Oat Groats, Austrian Peas, Whole Wheat, Safflower Seed, White Millet, Red Millet, Canary Seed, Vetch, Buckwheat, Rice.

Chris

 

[TeamChaos]

I read the bit about tomatoes being poisonous too, but it seems to me like it was qualified as the leaves and described in a situation where chickens were confined and had only the tomato leaves offered for greens.

I have no idea, I'm new to chickens, but I certainly appreciate this does of 'Real Life'; the internet can make you scared of anything.

 

[digitS']

You can "consult the literature" if you'd like.

Diseases of Poultry, 11th edition, published by the American Association of Avian Pathologists list 35 plants or families of plants with noted "signs and lesions" of poisoning. Discussion of antinutrients in uncooked soybeans and such is separate.

On the internet, Cornell University list several, Plants Poisonous to Livestock, Poultry.

You can also try this: Do a google search of

site:vet.purdue.edu/toxic poultry or,

site:essmextension.tamu.edu/plants/toxics poultry

And, this is a great resource since it also cites information on specific cases of livestock poisoning:

site:cbif.gc.ca poultry

Chickens are a relatively low-value livestock that generally does NOT free-range in commercial production. Contaminated feed is not entirely uncommon but for birds that live out their entire short lives in confinement, as a general rule, the risk of loss to toxic food that they come across on their own is fairly limited.

Steve

 

[donrae]

I've thrown avocado skins and pits out in the pile the chickens have access to without any problems. They eat any fruit/meat left on the skin, not like I leave much lol! They don't seem at all interested in the pits, even the ones that have sprouted a tiny little tree

My dad's saying was "Chickens will eat anything that doesn't eat them first", and it's worked well for me. I figure, if an animal's stupid enough to eat something toxic, it's not gonna last long at my place anyway. And I have fed moldy bread, rotten produce, some interesting "science projects" from the fridge....they pick what they want and the rest composts. Everyone's healthy, happy, shiny feathers, laying well.

OP, thanks for starting this! It's interesting how many people will tell you different things are toxic, but no one here has had any examples, and this board covers a LOT of chicken experience!

 

[WhetzelMomma]

Quote:
And the fact that the fruit was whole on the ground means that if they were eating it, they had to go through the skin to get inside... I think your deduction was probably not too far off.

Also to clarify, because I'm on the "if I can eat it they probably can" boat... PROBABLY is the key word there. Like you mentioned, there are still things that we humans eat that some animals cannot. Chocolate and dogs is a good example of that. However, in GENERAL... I think that there is a good safety net in knowing what we humans can and can't eat and using it as a guide.