Elderberries

[SW31]

Hello, we have lots of elder trees here. The chickens love grapes, wild blackberries and small tomatoes but I wondered if it was safe for them to eat elderberries. I’m sure they’ve been eating the elder flowers earlier!

 

[Chickassan]

Yes, they're delicious and perfectly ok.

 

[pintail_drake2004]

I find that they are bitter and add lots of sugar when I make wine. My hens love to pick the berries that hang too low to the ground. I do cut some of the higher up clusters and toss them into the pen.

 

[jvls1942]

this summer I had a beautiful fully blossomed elderberry bush at the front of our property, close to the ditch line.
I was envisioning jelly and maybe a small batch of wine.. then one day I came home and the bush was gone..
the town came through with that over grown weed whacker and mowed it down to the roots..It is growing back now, but it will be next year before we get any berries.. I am going to dig up the roots and move them farther from the road..
elderberries are ok for eating. anything you can eat, a chicken can eat..
don't eat the stems, they are toxic.
probably won't kill you but might make you a little ill.. cyanide, I believe.google it.
......jiminwisc......