potatoes?

[richje100]

Hi, i feed my hens on all the salad & veg peelings when ever i get some. they especially seem to enjoy potato peelings.
will these harm them?
also, i have a bag of potatoes that i was going to throw out until i remebered the hens. if they can eat them, is it easier to cut them in half, quarters?

 

[ranchhand]

Hmmm.... this is a much debated topic on BYC. Some had fed the peelings for years and say they've had no problems.

But greenish potato skins contain solanine, which can be dangerous, even to people if enough is ingested.

I reached a compromise situation- I don't give them potato peels, but I do give them COOKED potatoes. Never raw.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Ranchhand is right. The green potato skins contain a substance that is poisonous to humans and chickens. I know of no reason to not feed regular potato skins, whether from white, red, or sweet potatoes. I'm comfortable with that, but many people are not. Your choice.

 

[richje100]

thanks guys,
we i live the councils are getting busy making us all recycle food into special food bins. id rather feed as much of it to my hens as possible.
ill try boiling the spuds & feeding them. makes sense to make them soft so they can chomp on them with no effort.
thanks again.

 

[ranchhand]

Whatever the chickens don't get is composted. Except meat products, we have enough predators already. Did you know even paper towels and napkins can be composted?

 

[richje100]

do people feed meat to their chickens?
we've got to recylce everything thats recyclable or face a hefty fine.
what "human" fodd cant i give to them? my children like to eat oven cooked potato shapes (letters, smiley faces etc..) these are cooked from frozen, could they eat these?