honeysuckle

[jackiedon]

Is it ok for chickens to eat honeysuckle? I pulled some out of trees for the goats and the chickens went crazy on them.

Thanks,

jackie

 

[airmom1c05]

Honeysuckle bush is toxic to chickens. You can find it by going to the index and selecting Feeding Time then read the sticky at the top of the forum regarding treats for chickens feedback. At the bottom of the treats page are some links listing toxic plants. If you Google "safe plants for poultry" you will find some links to safe plants in general. Some forms of honeysuckle may be OK. Best wishes!

 

[talos321]

When we were kids my dad's chickens would destoy a honeysuckle vine in a matter of days even scratching up the roots and eating them. My neighbor even paid us 10.00 a week to release some of our chickens in her fenced in garden during the fall/winter because the fence was overtaken with honeysuckle vines plus she wanted the fertilizer and to keep the weeds down. I think we did this for 10 years or so with no problems.

It appears the variety is Lonicera japonica (japanese honeysuckle). While it says the the berries are highly poisonous to humans the leaves are edible for humans. The berries are a treat to native birds which love them (NC Fish/Game). The chickens I have had for a year occasionally pick them but, appear fine. So whatever you wish to do is up to you regarding this.

Cho 1992 Lonicera japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle)
http://tncweeds.ucdavis.edu/esadocs/documnts/lonijap.pdf
Can be used as a food additive to increase productivity in broiler chickens in Korea.

Oh...that's why those chickens got so fat!

 

[d.k]

* I have a deep orange invasive which is called either a honeysuckle or trumpet vine that's about taken over a big chunk of my backyard. It's nearly 7 feet tall!! Take some mighty big chickens to clean this stuff out!!!!

 

[sundance]

I planted honeysuckle to cover over my run for the summer,My dau has a dog pen about 6 feet away from my chickens so i planted it directly in the middle so that we could run the vines over her dogs and over my chickens. I also plan to plant morning glory and sunflowers in the raised bed i made, Here on top of the mountain all we have is rocks( they reproduce overnight) and i have to use raised beds for any of my garden, I put 2 large tires on the hill behind our house, pretty steep hill and plan to plant squash in one and pumpkins in the tire on the other side of the hill, since both run should be nice and they are not close enough to cross pollinate.

 

[Brian]

Quote:
Let us know if your chickens have any ill effects. My guess is that they will not! Again...my theory is that chickens don't eat things that are poisonous to them. If anyone on this list has an example of a chicken of theirs being harmed by a toxic plant it ate, I would really to know about it (and what it was) and will stand corrected. I've not heard of such yet.

 

[LynneP]

The term 'honeysuckle' means different things in different regions. It might be a vine or a hedge, or any number of plants. Hedge honeysuckle is common here and poultry owners allow their birds to free-range in it. Of course the free-rangers have fewer birds than the rest of us! (predator joke)

 

[jstagrl8110]

Hey all,

I must admit, I didn't know that honeysuckle would be toxic to chickens. We have two honeysuckle bushes behind our coop, and last year, when we let the chickens out, they would almost always be pecking and jumping at the honeysuckle, liked they loved to eat it. As Brian stated, do chiken know what is or is not toxic fo them? So far to date, no ill effects from the bushes.... Although, I will be a little bit more attentive to their eating behaviors this year.

LynneP- i will have to do research to find out what type of honeysuckle it is.


Thank you everyone for your info.....Nothing like getting info firsthand from the farmer : )

 

[Kris64]

Great point! I think some of the warnings of toxic plants pertain to some varieties and perhaps only to some chickens.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

honeysuckle is in the lonicera group, and the invasive ones we have in Ontario are tatarian (Lonicera tatarica), Amur (L. maackii), Morrow, (L. morrowii) and Bells (L.×Bella) - are any of these safe to feed? would love to reduce the spread