free range question

[ThisoldNHhen]

Hello, I find this site to be such a wealth of info!... So far my girls have survived my care for 9 months! I rehomed them in July and they have made it through this winter so far. I am soooo ready for summer and am already thinking about gardens and letting the girls free range while I am working in the yard. Sooo I started looking at things like the list of toxic plants.... now I afraid to let them out! I feel like the list is so large.... http://www.poultryhelp.com/toxicplants.html..... and I don't know what could be lurking around the yard. Does anyone else have this concern or am I just being over anxious?

 

[21hens-incharge]

They seem to know what is not good to eat. I know that first release to roam the yard can be stressful.

Mine take nibbles of almost EVERYTHING but never eat enough of any single thing to do harm.

Yes even tomato leaves get tasted.

 

[BDutch]

I would be more concerned about the chickens eating the seeds and crops. Sane chickens don’t eat toxic plants. Also toxic plants for birds is not the same as toxic plants for humans . Some lists are incorrect for that reason.

Only if you mow a lawn with toxic plants and feed it to them with grasses and such it can be a hazard (info I read long time ago from another site).

 

[cottontail farm]

I've never thought about poisonous plants and we have 5 acres of lawn, brush, woods. Maybe they know to avoid things? The only things I *would* worry about are rodent poisons, insecticides and lawn pesticides, both on your yard and the neighbors.

 

[JNC]

My ducks are stupid. They don’t seem to know what is good and what is bad. When I first insulated their house they would eat the insulation like crazy as if it was cotton candy I’ve also cought them eating styrofoam. Don’t know how they aren’t dead yet

 

[BDutch]

I've never thought about poisonous plants and we have 5 acres of lawn, brush, woods. Maybe they know to avoid things? The only things I *would* worry about are rodent poisons, insecticides and lawn pesticides, both on your yard and the neighbors.

Yes. Poisons, insecticides and lawn pesticides are a true hazard.
Even if the chickens can’t eat rodent poisons themselves. Eating from dead mice and rats can poison the chickens indirectly.
Buying flowers in the store that have been treated can also be hazardous for some time.

 

[BDutch]

My ducks are stupid. They don’t seem to know what is good and what is bad. When I first insulated their house they would eat the insulation like crazy as if it was cotton candy I’ve also cought them eating styrofoam. Don’t know how they aren’t dead yet

Yes this a known issue with chickens too. But styrofoam is not natural. And it doesn’t grow in you’re garden.

 

[NatJ]

My ducks are stupid. They don’t seem to know what is good and what is bad. When I first insulated their house they would eat the insulation like crazy as if it was cotton candy I’ve also cought them eating styrofoam. Don’t know how they aren’t dead yet

Since they ARE still alive and I assume healthy, maybe they aren't quite as stupid as you think. They appear to be correct that it's "safe" to eat (although I doubt it's giving them anything useful nutritionally.)

 

[NatJ]

I started looking at things like the list of toxic plants.... now I afraid to let them out!

You could start picking plants that you KNOW are safe, and offering those inside their pen, even before you let them out to free range. That way they can start to learn that plants come in different flavors, and these ones are OK.

Plants I know are safe:
dandelions
grass
clover
greens that people eat: lettuce, spinach, cabbage, etc
plantain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantago_major


Or you could start letting them out to range just as early as possible in the spring, when the plants are tiny and just starting to grow. They won't get very much of any one plant, so they can learn what is good without being able to overeat on any of them. And by the time the plants have grown big, the chickens will have learned which ones to eat in what quantities.

 

[JNC]

Since they ARE still alive and I assume healthy, maybe they aren't quite as stupid as you think. They appear to be correct that it's "safe" to eat (although I doubt it's giving them anything useful nutritionally.)

Right. They used to walk down to the public lake right down the street and hang out with the wild geese. The geese didn’t seem to mind them but o decided to buy a gate for them because o realized that they could be eating many harmful things like bread, cigarettes (they’ve tried) and plastic. And when they went they would refuse to come back home. One day they were there for maybe six hours and I was hoping they would walk back home but no! They were there just sleeping in the water