Is Pineapple toxic for chickens?

[HeatherKellyB]

My head hen was a fairly large girl and one of my first hens. She was given lots of treats, like an embarrassing amount. (I know better now) I went out to let the girls free range for about an hour before lock up and noticed "Fashion" looked to be struggling. She was extremely pale so I rushed her into my shop and placed her in a dog crate with towels to help keep her comfortable. Within 15 minutes she was gone. I suspect fatty liver. It was extremely fast because I had checked on them moments before letting them out and she was acting normal. I hated to lose my wonderful girl, Fashion, but I'm relieved it was fast. I do worry about her feeling unwell in the months and/or years before her death but I hope the worst of it was quick. Seems like a hard jolt in certain areas can also cause them to bleed out internally. Was she pale or did you notice anything like that? I'm so sorry for your loss.

 

[BigLar368]

My head hen was a fairly large girl and one of my first hens. She was given lots of treats, like an embarrassing amount. (I know better now) I went out to let the girls free range for about an hour before lock up and noticed "Fashion" looked to be struggling. She was extremely pale so I rushed her into my shop and placed her in a dog crate with towels to help keep her comfortable. Within 15 minutes she was gone. I suspect fatty liver. It was extremely fast because I had checked on them moments before letting them out and she was acting normal. I hated to lose my wonderful girl, Fashion, but I'm relieved it was fast. I do worry about her feeling unwell in the months and/or years before her death but I hope the worst of it was quick. Seems like a hard jolt in certain areas can also cause them to bleed out internally. Was she pale or did you notice anything like that? I'm so sorry for your loss.

Thanks for sharing. Pretty sure the group diagnosis is probably right. We will get the rest back on track and cut down on the corn.

 

[Weeg]

Thanks for sharing. Pretty sure the group diagnosis is probably right. We will get the rest back on track and cut down on the corn.

I'm glad we can diagnose that for you. Learning can be hard, at least we can do that. Your flock will thank you.

 

[BigLar368]

I'm glad we can diagnose that for you. Learning can be hard, at least we can do that. Your flock will thank you.

We have been lucky. This is the third one out of 20 we have lost and we have had them almost 2 years. We take pretty good care of them. They lay a pretty decent amount of eggs. The ducks lay almost everyday. We learn and move on. Thanks to everyone who shared.

 

[3KillerBs]

I'd probably avoid that kind of bottle since they aren't designed to be food safe. However, if you are on good terms with a local restaurant, ask for one of their discarded pickle or olive buckets. Those are ~5 gallons and food safe. They will likely be trashing them anyway.

I can't lift a 5-gallon bucket, but I work in a grocery store and get 3-gallon buckets from the bakery -- the ones the frosting comes in -- to make my waterers.

I figure that since I use the "Free and Clear" detergent the plastic is safe for dry applications like oystershell.

 

[NatJ]

Oyster shell is put down about once a week so they eat it as they want. We tried putting it in a container but they just end up crapping in it or knocking it over.

The usual idea is to have it constantly available. So if some is always laying around on the ground, what you describe is probably just fine.

 

[BigLar368]

The usual idea is to have it constantly available. So if some is always laying around on the ground, what you describe is probably just fine.

We give them about a cup a week. It's always on the ground so they have a steady supply. Egg shells are way thicker than store bought.

 

[NatJ]

We give them about a cup a week. It's always on the ground so they have a steady supply. Egg shells are way thicker than store bought.

That should be fine. No need to change that system unless you want to.

 

[Ted_Harrell]

After cleaning my duck kiddie poll on a regular basis, I can attest to the fact that they can make it nasty in an instant. I also throw a partial scoop in the coop to get my chickens back in. I have known folks that buy a 50lb bag of cracked corn, which I hope they are not feeding as their sole ration for their birds. Sorry bout your bird...

 

[Lake2sea]

Yeah she's already gone. I felt her rear end and stomach and could not feel any eggs. My wife thinks she may have slipped off the side of the duck pond and hit her head on the way down. We found her right next to the pond. They have fresh clean water but some of them insist on drinking dirty duck pond water. I have no idea why...lol. They are straight up savages.

Before we found her she was perfectly fine. She was actually the heaviest chicken we have and her feathers were full and bright. We can usually tell when there is something wrong with one of them. We had a sick one few weeks ago. She was getting better but fell in the duck pond and drowned. Thing is if they stand up in the water they are only about 3/4 submerged but I guess she was too weak. Weather was not a factor as it was well into the 80's that day. I have found a healthy one in the duck pond before...lol.

As far as the other birds are concerned, they all look just fine. At the end of the day, we treat them as though they are pets but they are only here for only two reason.....eggs and fertilizer for our garden...lol. Thanks to all for all the kind words.

After reading all of the posts, I do believe the pineapple was unrelated to the death. Pineapple in moderation is fine. I am sorry for your loss.
I guarantee there was a underlying cause of the death. We too recently had a chicken die for no apparent reason. Fine one minute and prior/ an hour later couldn’t walk. Knowing she didn’t have water belly, a stuck egg and couldn’t walk anymore, we ousted her. My husband did an autopsy as we often do, when curious, and she showed no signs until we found a tumor in her stomach the size of an egg! Poor thing…!!! Seems as though every one we purchased from a retail store dies of weird things-
You just don’t know with chickens. My only hope is they don’t suffer but sometimes us owners have to intervene.
I would like to talk further of your ducks and pond as we are new to this world … just lost our daddy duck as we didn’t know certain types of algae were toxic?!?!??
Thanks a bunch!