Pokeweed

[Al Gerhart]

Why do you think it wouldn't have much food value? Just curious. There are actually lots of green plants that are packed with nutrients. They also make great garden fertilizer teas when steeped in water.

Good point, all sorts of vitamins minerals I would guess. Calories, protien, or carbs, not so much I am guessing. Now legumes....

 

[Priscilla Hen]

My chickens are confined except for a few hours daily, but get lots of treats. I was thinking about putting it in with them/

I feed them to mine, even the young ones. Gives them loose poops but no problem.

 

[saysfaa]

I feed them to mine, even the young ones. Gives them loose poops but no problem.

The person you quoted hasn't been on the site since 2015. It seems to me to be a relevant topic this time of year every year.

I would agree that loose poops due to food doesn't necessarily mean a problem. Many nonpoisonous foods can do that through any of several ways. Simply more fiber than usual can do it, or unabsorbed sugars attracting water. If it stays mild enough to not cause dehydration or to not flush the beneficial microbes out of the intestines then there isn't a problem. Pokeweed toxics have powerful effects besides just irritating the digestive system, though.

One problem is the toxicity of pokeweed is variable and the sensitivity of who eats it is variable (by individual, not just species).

The other problem is pokeweed often spreads very aggressively. It is a perennial with a very extensive tap root and prolific seed reproduction. Once a single plant is established, just cutting it back doesn't faze it; it takes diligently cutting it back often enough and far enough to eventually kill it. The seeds are many (each of those berries has ten seeds), durable (easily lives decades until conditions are right for germination), and distributed widely.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

My mother (86 yrs old) loves poke leaves cooked as greens. She grew up on them. She says you shouldn't eat too many because they can give you the trots. Why would they be poisonous to chickens or is it just the berries? Heck we used to make ink out of them as kids.

Same! Ink, lol

 

[Chicken Maw-Maw]

I wonder, though, if the chickens don't eat the berries, if it is because they can't reach them. Poke berries tend to be borne at the top of the plant.

True but they fly jump up to get at the grapes and the apples and the seeds on tall weeds yet I have never seen the jump up to get the berries off the poke.


edit look how short this one is and they dont touch it

this is a tall one they could jump and get the berries

Im curious now, Has anyone had your chicks eat the poke berries???


its the seeds that are posion
] Phytolaccatoxin and phytolaccigenin are present in many species which are poisonous to mammals if not cooked properly. However, the berries are eaten by birds, which are not affected by the toxin because the small seeds with very hard outer shells remain intact in the digestive system and are eliminated whole.[citatio

http://westboroughlandtrust.org/nn/nn145.php

above is a list of birds that eat it.


from everything i have found and read poke berries are fine for chickens and some claims it acts a wormer.
My chicks wont touch it though...they want watermelon or the sqush and grapes in the garden.
[/QUOTE]

My chickens free range daily and get lots of good kitchen scraps along with their feed. They have been seen jumping up to grab and gobble up the ripe poke berries in the past week or so. I’ve heard the plant is poisonous, which is why I researched this topic here. They seem to be feeling just fine. I think animals instinctively know what they can and cannot eat and will only eat the things that aren’t good for them if they don’t have healthier options.
What you said about the poke berry seeds staying intact through the digestive system makes perfect sense to me as to why it doesn’t affect wild birds and in this case, chickens. Another thing to note is that my friend’s young granddaughter, less than 2 years old, ate some poke berries a couple weeks ago. Her mom called poison control and told her not to be concerned because she would have had to consume a large amount to be affected by them. Im sure most of us know that this is the case with many things considered poisonous.

 

[JohnH123]

I have 4 pokeweed plants growing on the property, and the chickens eat every berry they can off of them. They will not eat the leaves, stems, or green unripe berries. Only the ripe berries. Little tidbit of info. It will cause their poops to look like they are bloody. It's not blood, just dyes it a dark pink color.