Oleanders...will my chickens eat them and get sick?

[Skydive Chicken]

Im in southern az and I have lots of oleander bushes in my yard and I have 3 big hens and 5 bantams who all have access to them. The hang out underneath them for shade and don't eat them even though they could quite easily. They eat the palms right beside them and the ornamental grasses. So far I haven't had any problems that I know of. In fact I was thinking of planting one next to the coop for shade but maybe after reading all this I'll see if there is something else.

 

[Skydive Chicken]

The main problem is that they will eat anything that is good to eat, so they plant won't stick around to provide shade unless it tastes yucky to them. Not sure what the answer is!

 

[swga]

Oleander are extremely toxic- my concern would be that they might decide to stay away after taking a bite and deciding it tastes nasty... but would that one bite kill or sicken them?
My father was friends with a family whose little boy sucked the nectar out of a single oleander blossom and died...
The chickens probably wouldn't bother the oleanders, but if you are worried about it, you might want to fence that portion off, or keep an eye out for which of your flock are the more adventurous type...

 

[BuffOrpington88]

A very small amount of Oleander can kill large animals, so I would fence it off.

 

[Lynard]

http://het.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/05/11/0960327111408150

This is a link to a study abstract regarding oleander injestion by chickens. Long story short; oleander reacts the same way in chickens as it does in other species.

 

[moms3cuties]

A very small amount of Oleander can kill large animals, so I would fence it off.

I have four 1 year old chickens and they've all done well they just hide in dirt for shade I wasn't in the position to keep them out of there. They're all still living but if you can I think it is still good idea.

 

[hbode]

My chicken coop is in the garden area and the coop and their run borders a wall with 10 foot oleanders. There is no way that I
can keep the leaves out of the garden entirely. Since the oleanders are all along my 1/2 acre property, there is no better place to put them. I can only hope they won't eat them.

The chicks are just over 5 weeks and love being outdoors. However, I am worried about the monsoon storms. What should I
do for the chickens then? I'm sure the coop isn't waterproof and sometimes the rain comes down sideways. Will they weather
the storms well? Does anyone else have heeler dogs that will put the chickens in their coop at night? Is this something my heelers should do?

Thanks! I am a brand new chicken owner and have lots of questions!

 

[SkinnerMan]

My chickens hang out under my oleander bushes for shade almost daily for years now, with no problems. We also have other species of toxic plants in the yard like bottlebrush and privets, and they leave them alone. They seem to know what not to eat. Just for thought though, most animals will have a go at anything when they are starving. Make sure to have a good supply of food for them, and their chances of trying to eat something poisonous becomes pretty slim.

 

[Patinas]

We don't have oleanders but we do have lots of those pesky horsetail plants on the perimeter of our property and those too are supposed to be poisonous. My flock free ranges part of the day and I have seen them taste the horsetails when they first were let out to explore.

Now, I never see them taste it and all of them are alive and well at 6 1/2 months old. I have a lot of trust in the hens that they know what to eat and what not to eat but I also think keeping them well fed on commercial feed and offering a variety of treats also curbs the risk of them deciding to eat a lot of something they shouldn't have.

We also have an oak tree in the yard and oak leaves are also supposed to not be good for chickens but I have yet to see them even try and taste an oak leaf.

I have also seen my hens find something in the yard completely inedible such as a piece of plastic or on one occasion, some fiberglass insulation. They get all super excited when they find new things and run around announcing they have something but it appears to me, that once they have figured out it is not edible, they move on. It almost seems like it is more of a curiosity thing and a learning experience for them more than anything else. New things always rev them up but once they have satisfied their curiosity, they move on and leave it alone after that.

Mushroom season here is fast approaching so that has me on edge but there's really nothing I can do about it short of locking them in the coop all the time which I'm not willing to do at this point. I'll just have to continue to trust they will know what is good/bad and keep a close eye on them.

 

[Crooked Chicken]

Thank you to everyone who provides help to us newbies!

I live in Phx Az and my property has a lot of shade from oleanders. I understand oleanders are poisonous to chickens. I was hoping to free range at least part of the day. Will chickens stay away from oleanders if I provide enough feed?

Cory mother to one human son, 9 yrs old, 2 inside cats, 4 outside cats, 3 black australorps and one I don't know what colored for Easter just over a week old now.

Oleander is deadly poisonous -- all parts. When I was still living in California, the town next door "Norco" is a horse town. They went through and removed all oleanders. My own experience: I had pet lizards, among other things, growing up. I put an oleander flower in my horned toad's house for a decoration. He ate it and died. Don't take that chance.