Tomato hornworm tragedy

[syble]

not sure if i buy that, but maybe some birds are more sensitive then others? I unfortunately have a ton of them, and i will collect them in a bucket and feed say about 100 give or take to about 20 chickens, occasionally the turkeys, never had a loss yet

 

[A.T. Hagan]

The dose makes the poison.

I have no idea if the hornworm killed the poult or not. But I do know that green tomato vines are toxic to a degree so it stands to reason that a hornworm that is feeding on them may also have a degree of toxicity. I've fed them many times to my yard hens and never noticed a problem, but if the poult was significantly smaller than a hen it may have been that it would have ingested enough of the toxin to do it in that would not have affected a larger hen.

Or it may have been something else altogether.

 

[Carpe DiHen]

Found this when I researched this question:

"Do not feed wild tomato or tobacco hornworms to reptiles. Tomato leaves and vines and tobacco leaves, which both species of worm feed on, are poisonous.

If you want to use hornworms as feeders, then buy some captive-raised hornworms that are fed a "chow". Here is a site you can buy them from (scroll down): http://mulberryfarms.com/horn2.htm"

The worm is not posonous, it is the tomatoe that it has eaten that is bad. Toxic depends on the dose, as with many things. If your many chickens play keep away and tear it up, it's probable ok. If one bird digests a whole big worm, it could be bad or fatal to a small poult.

I gave one to my 5 chicken and they wouldn't touch it. Then came in and did research and ran out to get it out of the run!

Don't risk it anyone, even if you've seen them eat them ok.

 

[redhen]

OOpsie... i fed my girls like 5 of them last week...

Wont do that again...

OOh but another question..my PB pigs ATE most of my tomato vines the other day. They dont seem ill.... but i was worried. How long could the toxins affect them? Or are they safe now?

 

[Carpe DiHen]

It apppears pigs are not sensitive:

"On the other hand, pigs love to break into vegetable gardens and eat the vegetables and vegetable plants, including tomato plants. Pigs will also eat "volunteer" tomato plants that spring from droppings or on manure piles. As long as the plants are NOT treated with any pesticides, fungicides or spray on plant foods, the pigs are just fine."

from a pot belly pig blog...

 

[willkatdawson]

So sorry you lost your chicken, and it sounds like it could have very well been the worm.

Thought y'all might like to see this blogpost (hand drawn) from the blog 'Scratch and Peck' and her little drama dealing with the dreaded horn-worm.

http://scratchandpeck.blogspot.com/2011/08/picky-eaters.html

cute story!

 

[proxieme]

Thank you for this post!

I just fed my girls two of them.

*runs to take it out of their run*

 

[frank53061]

The dose makes the poison.

I have no idea if the hornworm killed the poult or not. But I do know that green tomato vines are toxic to a degree so it stands to reason that a hornworm that is feeding on them may also have a degree of toxicity. I've fed them many times to my yard hens and never noticed a problem, but if the poult was significantly smaller than a hen it may have been that it would have ingested enough of the toxin to do it in that would not have affected a larger hen.

Or it may have been something else altogether.

I think you may have hit it right on the head.
I have had my Chickens get at my Tomato plants and stripped them bare of leaves but that was 12 chickens and 2 Tomato plants.
If the Horn worms diet for a period of time had been Tomato plants or other toxic plants then there is a posability that there was enough toxin built up in the worm that may have done the Poult in were as an adult it may have not killed.
And again there might have been something the Poult got into that was not known about.

 

[classyq]

I found one of these buggers on oy tomato plant and was covered in little white larva. I thought about giving it to the girls (1st year with a backyard flock) for a split second and decided to add it to the compost, as I didn't know if it would be harmful or not.
I'm steering clear of the hornworms...the girls get lots of yummy snacks and free range as well. They'll never know! Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[hogster160]

I found one of these buggers on oy tomato plant and was covered in little white larva. I thought about giving it to the girls (1st year with a backyard flock) for a split second and decided to add it to the compost, as I didn't know if it would be harmful or not.
I'm steering clear of the hornworms...the girls get lots of yummy snacks and free range as well. They'll never know! Better to be safe than sorry.

Here's an fyi for you. Those little white things are good

http://www.almanac.com/content/tomato-hornworms

Keep wasps around; they're "good" insects which feed on hornworms and act as a biological control. You may see hormworms with wasp larvae attached, which look like grains of rice. (See photo above.) These attacked hornworms will have little effect on your plants, so leave them and let the wasps carry out their life cycle.

Deb