do chickens eat holly berries? Are they poisonous to chickens?

[7-hen-jones]

Jeepers, I just bought a couple of sale holly bushes thinking they'd be great for my chicken garden.... Hmmmm... guess I'd better locate them elsewhere. Glad as always to learn from the veterans here. Our 7 girls are doing great by the way, and we should be seeing eggs in about 4 weeks!

 

[ruralreality]

I actually watched my comet chicken jump up and pick off holly berries and all 5 chickens scratch all around a big holly tree. Funny thing, 2 of my chickens were acting ill - I could not figure out why and thought they were really sick - look almost drugged. I'll never know if it was the Holly tree but it's the only thing I could associate w/their illness.

I had set up a forage area several weeks ago that included 2 areas under a dogwood and holly --- I was really worried when 2 of the chickens were acting the same sick way - standing w/tails down, egg yolk poo --- still eating and drinking but not as much. I thought perntonitis but I had another chicken euthanized from that so know a bit about that. I find it unlikely that both chickens would come down w/that 3 days apart. It seemed more like a toxin or virus.

They both seem to be improving after a week and I don't allow them under the Holly - we'll see ------

 

[threeleggeddog]

Hello- so I have holly trees all over my yard and although I know that they are toxic to chickens, my chickens free-range and seem to stay away. Im sure they eat them sometimes but really they seem uninterested. Here is a web link that you can check next time to see if and what is toxic to your chickens.
http://www.poultryhelp.com/toxicplants.html#H

Good luck!

 

[gr8white]

I heard from an old timer that birds can actually get drunk from eating the berries, so i did a quick online search and it showed a few results supporting the claim. I didn't do to much digging on the info so take it with a grain of salt...

 

[NancyB22000]

Three legged dog -

Thanks so much for posting that list! I'm only up to the "E"s and I'm a bit overwhelmed - I had no idea the world was so toxic for chickens.

I checked in here to see specifically about holly berries - I let my girls out each day for a little free range time, and they have been foraging around my holly bushes & have tried eating the berries. I wasn't sure if they were ok for them to eat, so I've shooed them away until I remembered to look it up. Good to know now that the holly bushes are off limits!

Thanks again, three legged dog - that list is a little scary, but it's good to have on hand.

NancyB

 

[Mtnmomma3]

I just noticed that my chickens cleaned off all the berries they could reach. So far no signs of sickness. Good to know others have had the same experience.

 

[luckysaysgo]

What I think is holly due to the prickly leaves has yellow fragrant flowers tgen produces purple berries. My chickens and the blue jays fight over them. My chickens are not sick from it.

 

[luckysaysgo]

Nvm I was just informed that what I have is called Mahonia. It's even edible to humans, though bitter.

 

[2001chickybaby]

BSOLUTELY!!! They love this nutritious snack! My chickens have been eating them for years now, and their egg production is through the roof, and the eggs are delicious.

 

[JeanetteDunn]

My chickens must be trippin' all the time. Ipomea spp. (SWEET POTATO VINES); entire plant; plant contains LSD-related hallucinogens; may contain toxic levels of nitrates. My garden is full of these and they eat them a lot. I've never seen them eat the holly.