Letting chickens into the yard and safety of consuming eggs if chickens eat odd plants

[Penguingirl216]

Sorry if this isn't the best forum for this - I've started to let my chickens out in the yard more, only about a hour a day. They are provided layer feed and treats otherwise. I noticed today that one chicken while out maybe ate a wisteria seed. I've read mixed things on if this is toxic, seems like evidence that these would be bad for humans to consume. Though I'm concerned if the chicken will get sick (going to wait and see), I'm also concerned about the safety of consuming the eggs. If you let chickens out into a yard to free range and they eat something toxic to humans, would the eggs still be safe? Would you notice something wrong with the chicken first before the threat/chance of eating bad eggs? Thanks!

 

[Altairsky]

You're overthinking. My chickens free roam on a field full of wild herbs. There certainly is wild stramonium and delphinum and who knows what else. When they don't eat herbs, they eat worms, maggots, slugs, and other disgusting bugs crawling in the manure. They always end up with manure smeared all over their beaks. The quality and safety of the eggs is no concern to me.

 

[Perris]

Sorry if this isn't the best forum for this - I've started to let my chickens out in the yard more, only about a hour a day. They are provided layer feed and treats otherwise. I noticed today that one chicken while out maybe ate a wisteria seed. I've read mixed things on if this is toxic, seems like evidence that these would be bad for humans to consume. Though I'm concerned if the chicken will get sick (going to wait and see), I'm also concerned about the safety of consuming the eggs. If you let chickens out into a yard to free range and they eat something toxic to humans, would the eggs still be safe? Would you notice something wrong with the chicken first before the threat/chance of eating bad eggs? Thanks!

trust their instincts. You'll notice that they don't eat everything; they discriminate on taste and instinct. Evolution and natural selection has been working on chickens for thousands of years to eliminate those that made bad choices and favour those that made good choices. Your birds are descended from a long line of those whose instincts are good, and they've probably inherited the same skill.

You don't worry about there being something toxic in the bag of feed; think of the stuff growing in the yard the same way.