Plum Pits?

[wroblow]

not sure if this is the right place to post, but I just heard that plum pits are toxic to chickens. Is this true? My neighbor has about 5 plum trees that all hang over into my yard and right now the birds/squirrels are knocking the fruit down all over (especially in the coop area). I like that these trees provide shade for the coop, but do I need to go around and pick up every stray plum that falls??

 

[speckledegg]

Oh my goodness! I'd like to know this too! Our neighbors have a plum tree that hangs over into our yard as well. The girls left the pits alone yesterday when I was watching them.

 

[wroblow]

can anyone help us out?

 

[southerndesert]

The inside (meat) of the pit contains the toxins and I believe they are in the cyanide group of poisions.

The American Medical Association (AMA)'s Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants states that eating a large quantity of apple seeds (and other seeds like plumb, apricot, peach, and others) can be fatal due to the presence of the toxin cyanogenic glycoside, or cyanide. The exact lethal dose is unknown, although swallowing the seeds of a single apple is generally harmless for an adult. Children are more vulnerable: 15 apricot kernels are sufficient to kill them.

 

[wroblow]

Quote:
thank you for the information. I'm wondering if anyone has chickens living around plum trees. Do they actually eat the seeds?

 

[3dogs]

I give my chickens plums as treats and see pits scattered about their pen. Mine don't seem to be eating the pits.

 

[mamabigbird]

Yup. Mine will pick off all the fruit and leave the pits untouched.
I think they must sense what they can eat and what to leave.
However avocado is extremely poisonous to all birds and they would probably eat that.

 

[wroblow]

Thank you!!

I don't have any avocado trees, so if they leave the pits alone I should be ok with the plums.

 

[itsy]

We have two plum trees that the chickens like to hang out under. They will eat the fallen plums now and again, but they generally avoid them. I haven't had any issues with illness related to the plums.

 

[southerndesert]

Quote:
It is only the meat of the pit that is dangerous and as a rule your birds ignore the pit as mentioned by another member.... Also agree that chickens have a good idea what is good and what not to eat implanted in their brain