PLANTS POISONIOUS TO POULTRY

[lovemychix]

Our best favorite hen ever ate my peace lily and it killed her. WE were just sick.

 

[giasmom]

Okay, I understand now .

 

[patandchickens]

Rhubarb leaves are poisonous. But only when eaten in 'sufficient' quantity.

Clovers and other legumes (and some other plants as well), the problem is that sometimes in some stages of growth they can have toxic levels of nitrites (or is it nitrates? I forget) if too much is eaten. It is by no means all the time.

That's the problem with trying to compile lists of things that are poisonous. It is hardly ever "always" or "all of the plant", and not only do plants differ in what quantity a <whatever critter> has to eat to be poisoned, it is going to depend on many facets of the particular plant (strain, growth rate, age, soil nutrients, etc etc etc).

Plus there is the whole extra issue of whether a particular animal will *eat* that particular plant. Most poisonous plants are not appealing to nonstarving animals. But then you get the one gourmet, adventurous, or taste-bud-deficient individual who has to taste or sprouts some weird food fad...

Pat

 

[flopshot]

that list is frightening. without half of those i would have a bare backyard.
i guess the chickens know what's bad though huh ?

 

[NYREDS]

There are several things on that list that I have seen chickens eat many times w/o any ill effect. Alfalfa & clover of course. I have a section of lawn that is almost all clover-I bag it when I mow & dump it in one of the runs. They eat it, love it & are fine. I also pull clumps of red clover from the edge of a meadow & toss that in as well. When I pull Lambs Quarters from the garden those go in the runs too-except for the ones I eat myself of course. They're my favorite early vegetable. Nettles & Curly Dock also don't seem to be a problem.
As to apples being "deadly", I don't think so. Chickens & every other form of livestock I've ever owned has eaten apples. Apple seeds do contain a small amount of Cyanide but you'd have to eat a lot of apple seeds to get a toxic dose.

 

[Attack Chicken]

Theres alot of wild onions in my yard.. No way to get rid of them :\\ What should I do?

 

[dukecitychick]

I think if chickens have other choices, they'll stay away from poisonous stuff. But if you dump an armful of buttercups into the run, there might be problems.

I don't know about rhubarb seed-heads, but I know a neighbor of ours had all his pigs die because somebody harvested a bunch of rhubarb and thought it would be nice to feed the leftover leaves to the pigs. So I guess that's the flip side, right? They don't ALWAYS know what's good for them!

In line with the "some parts are poisonous, some parts aren't'" idea, what's up with Brassica oleracea? Kale, cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, collards, and kohlrabi are ALL THE SAME SPECIES! But I've seen on different lists that some are OK to give to chickens while others aren't. Obviously different plant parts have been selected for during breeding (leaves, reproductive parts, etc) but are some dangerous and others not? If anyone knows, I'd be curious to hear!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I wholeheartedly agree with NYREDS. My chickens have been free ranging for a year, since the time they were weeks old chicks. They must have a sense of what's okay to eat or I'd have some dead chickens by now.
What about feral chickens? They manage to survive without someone showing them a list.

 

[Chicken Rox]

That list was scary! My chickens free Range and have never been bothered by many of these plants. They seem to love clover and really love Elderberries. Not the leaves, the fruit. Also I read that the leaves of rhubarb are poisonous to people so it's just logical that they would make our chicks sick too. We intend to put up a little fence around them. But can't fence all the offending plants. I am just going to have faith in mama hen to teach the new chicks what to eat. This is her first brood and she has been wonderful!

 

[montyhp]

I'll let you know about Lantana berries, my chickens attacked some lantana bushes today. So far they look fine.

Montyh[