- Jul 26, 2009
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Will instinct tell them which plants are edible to them and which are poisonous?
When I have them out in the yard, there are a lot of different species of plants, and they seem to want to taste them all. A couple of things they obviously didn't like - dill and oregano were both "spitters" for them.
But, can I be confident that they will know what not to eat just by instinct? Eventually, there will come a point where I can't watch them constantly. I have a big garden, and I do have things like Digitalis, Aconitum, and some others that are definitely quite toxic to humans. Of course, just because something is toxic to humans doesn't mean its toxic to birds. And what about in the fall when mushrooms pop up -- its impossible to even ID many of them!
TIA for any guidance.
When I have them out in the yard, there are a lot of different species of plants, and they seem to want to taste them all. A couple of things they obviously didn't like - dill and oregano were both "spitters" for them.
But, can I be confident that they will know what not to eat just by instinct? Eventually, there will come a point where I can't watch them constantly. I have a big garden, and I do have things like Digitalis, Aconitum, and some others that are definitely quite toxic to humans. Of course, just because something is toxic to humans doesn't mean its toxic to birds. And what about in the fall when mushrooms pop up -- its impossible to even ID many of them!
TIA for any guidance.