PLANTS POISONOUS TO CHICKENS

[Altairsky]

My chickens free range and they eat whatever. I've seen them devour potato plants and the poisonous Datura stramonium (devil's trumpet). They're all still here.

 

[Bawkbok]

We have Jasmine, Lantana, Milkweed and a few others on the list in our yard. The plants were here long before the chickens. They ignore the plants entirely even though they forage among and around them. It was funny to watch them jump up to snatch the new flowers off the blueberry bush the other day. It's amazing they instinctually know what they can and can't have.

As far as the compost pile goes, we used to let the girls go at it in there for the bugs. They loved it. However, there are too many opportunities for them to eat something rancid or moldy so we no longer take the chance. They are right there waiting at the compost fence for any bugs that might fall out as we churn it over. Any bugs I see, I grab and hand feed it to them.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

As far as the compost pile goes, we used to let the girls go at it in there for the bugs. They loved it. However, there are too many opportunities for them to eat something rancid or moldy so we no longer take the chance. They are right there waiting at the compost fence for any bugs that might fall out as we churn it over. Any bugs I see, I grab and hand feed it to them.

I've been running chickens on compost for years. The same thing that tells them not to eat poisonous plants seems to keep them away from anything harmful in the compost pile. Plus they love turning and aerating the pile while finding little treats that sometimes we can't even see.

 

[Appalachickens]

I had posted a question about food scraps, but looks like a lot of it got answered here. It started with this:

Conversation with my chickens.
Me: “Hey girls, brought you some feed.”
Chooks: “’Preciate it, we were running low.”
Me: “And some parsley and dandelion greens.”
Chooks: “Cool cool, we’ll probably give that a try.”
Me: “And some grapes.”
Chooks: “GRAAAAPES! GRAAAAAAPES! HALLELUJAH SHE BROUGHT GRAAAAAAAAAAPES!”
(Scuffle over grapes ensues.)

I know a lot of this is trial and error - my chickens don't particularly care for strawberries, for instance, but are wild about grapes and blueberries. I've discovered to my delight that they happily eat Japanese stilt grass and mimosa leaves, both of which are non-native invasives that I am wanting gone as much as possible. But I've read that are some that are really bad for them, like curly dock. Are there other weeds I should watch out for in terms of bringing them to my chickens to eat? When they are old enough to be out free-ranging, there won't be much I can do as I have many, many plants on the list growing here naturally - black walnut, American wisteria, mountain laurel, flame azalea, rhododendrons, and on and on. But people on neighboring properties on the same mountain have free-ranging chickens, so they must figure it out somehow.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I had posted a question about food scraps, but looks like a lot of it got answered here. It started with this:

Conversation with my chickens.
Me: “Hey girls, brought you some feed.”
Chooks: “’Preciate it, we were running low.”
Me: “And some parsley and dandelion greens.”
Chooks: “Cool cool, we’ll probably give that a try.”
Me: “And some grapes.”
Chooks: “GRAAAAPES! GRAAAAAAPES! HALLELUJAH SHE BROUGHT GRAAAAAAAAAAPES!”
(Scuffle over grapes ensues.)

I know a lot of this is trial and error - my chickens don't particularly care for strawberries, for instance, but are wild about grapes and blueberries. I've discovered to my delight that they happily eat Japanese stilt grass and mimosa leaves, both of which are non-native invasives that I am wanting gone as much as possible. But I've read that are some that are really bad for them, like curly dock. Are there other weeds I should watch out for in terms of bringing them to my chickens to eat? When they are old enough to be out free-ranging, there won't be much I can do as I have many, many plants on the list growing here naturally - black walnut, American wisteria, mountain laurel, flame azalea, rhododendrons, and on and on. But people on neighboring properties on the same mountain have free-ranging chickens, so they must figure it out somehow.

The consensus that I’ve read from experienced (and sensible) posters here is that *somehow* chickens know what’s not safe to eat. They might take a taste and then promptly abandon it. A lot of the lists floating around online are pretty out there - if any part of the plant has the slightest bit of toxin anywhere in it at any part of its life cycle, it’s automatically deemed poisonous.

For instance, many tree fruits have traces of cyanide in their pits. Ooo, cyanide! Yet my chickens happily crunch up apple cores and are fine.

 

[Appalachickens]

The consensus that I’ve read from experienced (and sensible) posters here is that *somehow* chickens know what’s not safe to eat. They might take a taste and then promptly abandon it. A lot of the lists floating around online are pretty out there - if any part of the plant has the slightest bit of toxin anywhere in it at any part of its life cycle, it’s automatically deemed poisonous.

For instance, many tree fruits have traces of cyanide in their pits. Ooo, cyanide! Yet my chickens happily crunch up apple cores and are fine.

You're in the same basic geographical area so like have the same no-go plants as me. And yet, I see chickens milling around in the road and at the edge of the woods all the time.

 

[nuthatched]

For instance, many tree fruits have traces of cyanide in their pits. Ooo, cyanide! Yet my chickens happily crunch up apple cores and are fine.

Depending on the breed of the tree, it would take 800-2000 apple seeds in a 24 hour period to make a lethal dose for a chicken.