Locust tree seed pods, Poison?

[digitS']

I hope this will be of some help, scroll down to "Robinia:"

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/htm/bc/ttox04.htm

Then ask this question over on the Emergencies / Diseases / Injuries and Cures forum.

Steve

 

[LoneCowboy]

Are you sure she's not broody?

 

[LoneCowboy]

So from the Merck link that was posted, it sounds to me like the flowers are considered the most poison. I've mowed and added the leaves and a few pods to my chicken runs before I discovered that black locust was supposed to be poison. I actually thought the tree was a honey locust, but DH says the honey locust is in the back yard. The front yard tree is a black locust. Anyway, I pick out the pods in the runs when I see them, but I've not removed them at all, and I've had no adverse reaction from my girls. I also found this.

Black locust was superior to other hardwoods in developing wildlife habitat on mine spoils. It quickly provided cover, and by 10 to 15 years native vegetation had established a dense undergrowth (36). Its seeds are rated low as wildlife food but are used to a limited extent by Northern bobwhite, other game birds, and squirrels (30,42). White-tailed deer browse the young growth, and a study in the southern Appalachians showed that 92 percent of the sprouts were browsed (13). Because older trees are usually infected with heart rot, woodpeckers often construct cavities in them. Nest cavities of the downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, and common flicker have been found (9). http://forestry.about.com/library/silvics/blsilrobpse.htm

So it sounds to me that they aren't as poison as we might have though.​

 

[digitS']

Well LoneCowboy, as I pointed out back in my October post about the seeds, etc. and chickens in my yard, "they just haven't shown any sign that they are poisoning themselves by eating the seeds." I've seen the hens eat a few of the leaves and blossoms, as well.
. . . I don't know

Steve

 

[FlockVillemaire]

I have got 5 Polish Bantams. I also have about seven Black Locust trees in my backyard (near the run). Since the leaves have dropped and got into their outdoor cage I have noticed strange behavior. I'm am pretty sure that one of my hens has some paralysis or at least some severe depression. She hasn't left her nest in at least a day. Does anyone know what I can do. I removed all the leaves from their area I could.

So very sorry! I hope she recovered. But thanks for the first real experiential report of Black Locust toxicity in this thread. I will learn from you, and resist ever planting one anywhere near my lovely ladies' enclosures, no matter how beneficial permies claim them to be.

 

[FlockVillemaire]

So from the Merck link that was posted, it sounds to me like the flowers are considered the most poison. I've mowed and added the leaves and a few pods to my chicken runs before I discovered that black locust was supposed to be poison. I actually thought the tree was a honey locust, but DH says the honey locust is in the back yard. The front yard tree is a black locust. Anyway, I pick out the pods in the runs when I see them, but I've not removed them at all, and I've had no adverse reaction from my girls. I also found this.

Black locust was superior to other hardwoods in developing wildlife habitat on mine spoils. It quickly provided cover, and by 10 to 15 years native vegetation had established a dense undergrowth (36). Its seeds are rated low as wildlife food but are used to a limited extent by Northern bobwhite, other game birds, and squirrels (30,42). White-tailed deer browse the young growth, and a study in the southern Appalachians showed that 92 percent of the sprouts were browsed (13). Because older trees are usually infected with heart rot, woodpeckers often construct cavities in them. Nest cavities of the downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, and common flicker have been found (9). http://forestry.about.com/library/silvics/blsilrobpse.htm​

​

So it sounds to me that they aren't as poison as we might have though.​

Perhaps, as with many substances, the toxicity is related to the dosage? Inside an enclosure, the dosage may be too high, but in a wild forage with many options it might be perfectly safe?