Oriental bittersweet plant and chickens

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Hey! Anyone know anything about Oriental Bittersweet vine?? I read all parts are poisonous, but not sure about the chicken/oriental bittersweet connection, and if anyone has experience here. Thanks in advance

 

[Geena]

Hey! Anyone know anything about Oriental Bittersweet vine?? I read all parts are poisonous, but not sure about the chicken/oriental bittersweet connection, and if anyone has experience here. Thanks in advance

Oriental Bittersweet is an extremely destructive invasive species. Kill it! Cut it off at ground level and paint the stumps with brush killer.
I don't know about the leaves, but lots of birds eat the berries and spread the seeds far and wide, one of the reasons it is so invasive, and destructive, and needs to be killed.

 

[Geena]

Oriental Bittersweet is getting to be a huge problem as it girdles, smothers and kills our native trees and plants.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Oriental Bittersweet is an extremely destructive invasive species. Kill it! Cut it off at ground level and paint the stumps with brush killer.
I don't know about the leaves, but lots of birds eat the berries and spread the seeds far and wide, one of the reasons it is so invasive, and destructive, and needs to be killed.

Part of my property is very dense woods. Along the woods line is horrible knot weed, sumac, and apparently this oriental bittersweet. I recently have been researching chickens and oak trees and acorns. Seems these are toxic to chickens too. (Im not 100 about the oak tree and chickens tho). These are all pretty aggressive plants and I’m unsure how they got here. The girls love the wood line, so I have become curious about all the plants they come into contact with. Next year I will grow some elderberries and sunflowers. Good thing they love the grass cause thats all they really eat. I do however see them munching the berries on the oriental bittersweet. Noone has gotten ill, but i sure am curious!

 

[Geena]

Part of my property is very dense woods. Along the woods line is horrible knot weed, sumac, and apparently this oriental bittersweet. I recently have been researching chickens and oak trees and acorns. Seems these are toxic to chickens too. (Im not 100 about the oak tree and chickens tho). These are all pretty aggressive plants and I’m unsure how they got here. The girls love the wood line, so I have become curious about all the plants they come into contact with. Next year I will grow some elderberries and sunflowers. Good thing they love the grass cause thats all they really eat. I do however see them munching the berries on the oriental bittersweet. Noone has gotten ill, but i sure am curious!

Part of our property is woods as well. I spend a good bit of time every summer killing off invasive species. They are all very aggressive plants and that's why they get labeled as invasive. I don't know how much good it does, but I try to do my part in controlling the spread of them.
I have a lot of oak trees too. I've heard that they can be toxic in large quantities, but the deer and squirrels sure eat the heck out of them. It seems to me, when chickens are given plenty of room to roam and forage that they instinctively know what to eat and not eat.

 

[bgmathteach]

Part of my property is very dense woods. Along the woods line is horrible knot weed, sumac, and apparently this oriental bittersweet. I recently have been researching chickens and oak trees and acorns. Seems these are toxic to chickens too. (Im not 100 about the oak tree and chickens tho). These are all pretty aggressive plants and I’m unsure how they got here. The girls love the wood line, so I have become curious about all the plants they come into contact with. Next year I will grow some elderberries and sunflowers. Good thing they love the grass cause thats all they really eat. I do however see them munching the berries on the oriental bittersweet. Noone has gotten ill, but i sure am curious!

Chickens can eat the bittersweet berries. However, be aware of the following: 1) If they eat a lot of them, their poop will be red. 2) The seeds don't get broken down when they eat the berries, just scarified, so they sprout easier....i.e. your chickens will help spread them wherever they poop.

As for acorns: the 'toxicity' is in the tannic acid in the acorns. That is also what makes them taste bitter. In the spring, if there are any acorns left, they are usually sweeter and edible as they have leached the tannins through the winter. You can also leach the tannins yourself, and then make flour out of them, or roast them. I've linked to an article below.

https://www.almanac.com/how-prepare-and-cook-acorns

It talks about leaching and using acorns. (There is evidence in places that the Native Americans use acorns as a food source.) I did this one fall. The cold water method seemed to take longer than they imply, but the nuts were decent...and when chopped up, my chooks liked them (I fed them as a treat.) I would love to do this again as a winter supplement to reduce feed bills, but I don't always have the time when we have a good mast year...and if not gotten fairly soon after falling, squirrels & such get many, leaving the wormy ones behind!

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Chickens can eat the bittersweet berries. However, be aware of the following: 1) If they eat a lot of them, their poop will be red. 2) The seeds don't get broken down when they eat the berries, just scarified, so they sprout easier....i.e. your chickens will help spread them wherever they poop.

As for acorns: the 'toxicity' is in the tannic acid in the acorns. That is also what makes them taste bitter. In the spring, if there are any acorns left, they are usually sweeter and edible as they have leached the tannins through the winter. You can also leach the tannins yourself, and then make flour out of them, or roast them. I've linked to an article below.

https://www.almanac.com/how-prepare-and-cook-acorns

It talks about leaching and using acorns. (There is evidence in places that the Native Americans use acorns as a food source.) I did this one fall. The cold water method seemed to take longer than they imply, but the nuts were decent...and when chopped up, my chooks liked them (I fed them as a treat.) I would love to do this again as a winter supplement to reduce feed bills, but I don't always have the time when we have a good mast year...and if not gotten fairly soon after falling, squirrels & such get many, leaving the wormy ones behind!

Huh! How interesting. Thanks for your knowledge. I see my girls picking up the acorns and trying to break them, so i helped them by smashing them and they ate some acorns about a week ago. i later looked it up and said, Jeesh, i guess i wont be doing that anymore! The learning curve is tough with these 6 gals and I dont want to do anything to harm them. I never would have thought acorns were no good for them. What about unsalted raw nuts like pecans or walnuts or almonds??