Feedback on Learning Center "Treats Chart"

[BabyGirls]

I saw that not letting them eat their own eggs is Bad- There are times I can't get in there fast enough and they've already eaten them? Can they get sick from them?

Also I give them a hamburger bun every day- is that bad too?

GREAT LIST- thank you for posting. I LOVE to spoil my girls

 

[Buff Hooligans]

BabyGirl, the reason we don't want our chickens to eat their own raw eggs is that WE want their eggs. It's not dangerous or harmful for their health for chickens to eat their own eggs, but sort of a waste.

Feeding them cooked eggs that are chopped up is okay because they won't recognize it as what they just laid. We just don't want the chickens to develop a real liking for the raw stuff.

Bread is okay, but not very nutritious. It's a nice treat, in moderation. We want them to eat their vitamin and mineral packed chicken pellets or crumbles most of all. But I love to spoil my girls too! Thanks for your comments!

 

[broadwing]

I was really getting into this list, and thinking that hanging a cabbage from the rafters of my garden shed would make a fun distraction for my girls in their coop. Then I scrolled down to the toxic plants list and it lists cabbage (brassica) as toxic. I thought it was being general, in that the brassica family has lots of different plants, but then it mentioned cabbage specifically.

So...before I go shopping and get the girls a head of cabbage, does anybody have any light to shed on this?

 

[Buff Hooligans]

I wish I had the answer to this. Maybe it's while a plant can be listed on the toxic list, it might be that just a part of it is not advisable to consume, such as the seeds, pit, skin, root, etc. Hopefully DLHunicorn will know why cabbage was on that list.

But lots of responsible chicken owners do the cabbage tetherball thing to keep their chickens occupied during the winter.

Personally, the only thing bad I've read about feeding cabbage is that it (like onions and garlic) can make the eggs taste "off"...

 

[dlhunicorn]

Poultryhelp.com summarized it quite nicely:
"Brassica spp. (CABBAGE, KALE, MUSTARD); leaves; plant is goitrogenic; may contain toxic levels of nitrates; B. napus (CULTIVATED RAPE) is hepatogenic. "

It is the AVIDIN in raw eggwhite (cooking removes it) that is so harmful to poultry and humans alike and why the eggs must be cooked . (Mainly because it binds up biotin causing deficiency.)see here:
http://extoxnet.orst.edu/faqs/natural/avi.htm

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Thank you DLHunicorn for helping us again.

I Googled "goitrogenic" and it means that it can interfere with the function of the thyroid gland.

 

[caddyeldorado2006]

we give our chickens table scraps that are still good for humans to eat, no potato skins though. Carrots they love in bits and pieces they think they are getting a treat. Worms are good for them except dont give them too much it may give them parasites inside them then you will have to spend money to deworm them again. oyster shells are good mixed in with their food. It makes their egg shells harder.

 

[wclawrence]

Citrus is good for chickens. In fact, Junglefowl almost have to have citrus occasionally.
And I am not being rude, but I think some of you are overlooking something. Chickens are VERY HARD to poision.

If strychnine wont do it, I highly doubt that egg whites and potatoes will do it.

By the way, the amount of Cyanide-containing compounds in apple, peach, plum, cherry, apricot, and pear seeds is a wonderful amount to kill parasites. But it will not hurt a chicken. It will kill a cow or goat, but CHICKENS ARE TOUGH.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

WCLawrence, your practical experience is helpful to this area. Since I have none myself, I will just copy & paste the following from the bottom of the treats chart for others who may want to know more:

"do not count on "toxic" plants immediately being identifiable by finding a dead bird the next morning...usually it is a slow process damaging organs , inhibiting the ability of your bird to utilize the nutrients in their feed, etc."

 

[lyndatu]

Thanks, Buff!

Really helped me out on finding treats for my chicks!