Pole beans bad? that bad?

[BonnieFierce]

Hi All,
I've got another one for you: I had poll beans in my garden for the last few years (in many different areas around my back yard, trying to figure out what spot works best for them). I just read that beans are toxics for chickens but Ive also noticed there is a lot of controversy in many articles of what is good or bad for chickens!

My girls are about 6 weeks and I wanted to get them out in my garden to pick through some of the bugs before I plant anything... I always find poll beans from the years before laying around the old beds (they tend to grow like weeds in places in my back yard).

Is letting the girls range when there could potentially be a few bean seeds laying around a terrible idea?

thanks for all your help everyone! This forum has saved my life (and the lives of my chickens)!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Chickens seem to know what to eat and what not to when they free range. I personally never worry about their choices. Birds confined to a run that don't get much but a ration may make poorer choices.

 

[lazy gardener]

I would not worry about it at all. I've never noted my birds to touch the bean leaves or beans when they do fall clean up. One thing my birds do enjoy: they totally skeletonize my rhubarb leaves when they clean the garden every fall. Evidently, they crave those leaves in the fall. They leave them alone the rest of the year. I wonder if the oxalic acid in the rhubarb leaves acts as an antihelminthic.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Aren't pole beans just green beans? I put spent green bean plants in last year & they loved the leaves & lived to tell about it. Don't think they ate much of the few beans that were left on. Thought dried type beans were the only things bad for them.

 

[BonnieFierce]

Yes pole beans are just green beans. I read a bunch about how bad they can be but there’s just too much info to keep up with! Thanks for the replay!!

 

[BonnieFierce]

I would not worry about it at all. I've never noted my birds to touch the bean leaves or beans when they do fall clean up. One thing my birds do enjoy: they totally skeletonize my rhubarb leaves when they clean the garden every fall. Evidently, they crave those leaves in the fall. They leave them alone the rest of the year. I wonder if the oxalic acid in the rhubarb leaves acts as an antihelminthic.

Thanks you!! I think I’m just very paranoid! I let the girls out yesterday and they loved it.

 

[lazy gardener]

yvw.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Hi All,
I've got another one for you: I had poll beans in my garden for the last few years (in many different areas around my back yard, trying to figure out what spot works best for them). I just read that beans are toxics for chickens but Ive also noticed there is a lot of controversy in many articles of what is good or bad for chickens!

My girls are about 6 weeks and I wanted to get them out in my garden to pick through some of the bugs before I plant anything... I always find poll beans from the years before laying around the old beds (they tend to grow like weeds in places in my back yard).

Is letting the girls range when there could potentially be a few bean seeds laying around a terrible idea?

thanks for all your help everyone! This forum has saved my life (and the lives of my chickens)!!

Let me remind everyone that there is a huge (and did I forget to say big) Difference between something being toxic and it being deadly. Beans are in fact toxic to humans, that is if you consider having gas being poisoned.

Lazy, according to all the experts on the World Wide Webb rhubarb should have all of your chickens pushing up daises already.

When it comes to bean poisoning in chickens this is a self correcting problem. The chickens should eat enough of your bean or pea blossoms to completely remove any danger that one of your chickens will be harmed in any way by a raw bean seed.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Let me remind everyone that there is a huge (and did I forget to say big) Difference between something being toxic and it being deadly. Beans are in fact toxic to humans, that is if you consider having gas being poisoned.

Lazy, according to all the experts on the World Wide Webb rhubarb should have all of your chickens pushing up daises already.

When it comes to bean poisoning in chickens this is a self correcting problem. The chickens should eat enough of your bean or pea blossoms to completely remove any danger that one of your chickens will be harmed in any way by a raw bean seed.

My donkeys absolutely love eating tomato plants, another supposedly toxic plant. I always leave it up to the critters to decide what they should and shouldn't be eating. Closely confined animals may be different decision, but all of mine have plenty of forage and room to make the proper decisions.

As far as bean plants those go to my goats when I pull them up. Chickens can peck at them if they want.