Tomato plants OK for chickens?

[pixie74943]

umm.. okay.. toxic?? my birds ignore it or take a couple of pecks and decide it no good..

as for being in the same family as capsicum.. capsicum is a favourite treat for my v. healthy birds

 

[KDbeads]

Quote:
Fruit is fine, plant isn't as a rule. Mine eat habaneros, I just don't let them eat the leaves.

 

[GardenWeasel]

I used to throw my bell and hot pepper trimmings in the compost pile until the girls got in there one day and picked every seed off any pepper core they found. They loved them so I save them now just for them. My tomato garden is right where I free range, not gonna happen next year, I have stopped chasing them out now and they have cleaned up all the green and semi-ripe tomatoes but don't mess much with the plants.

 

[eastbaychicks]

Quote:
Fruit is fine, plant isn't as a rule. Mine eat habaneros, I just don't let them eat the leaves.

Your ladies like it HOT! Whew I can't even eat habanero seeds!!!

 

[elmo]

Quote:
Fruit is fine, plant isn't as a rule. Mine eat habaneros, I just don't let them eat the leaves.

Your ladies like it HOT! Whew I can't even eat habanero seeds!!!

Birds aren't affected by capsaicin:

Birds do not have the same sensitivity to capsaicin because it targets a specific pain receptor in mammals. Chili peppers are eaten by birds living in the chili peppers' natural range. The seeds of the peppers are distributed by the birds that drop the seeds while eating the pods, and the seeds pass through the digestive tract unharmed. This relationship may have promoted the evolution of the protective capsaicin.[16] Products based on this substance have been sold to treat the seeds in bird feeders to deter squirrels and other mammalian vermin without also deterring birds. Capsaicin is also a defense mechanism against microbial fungi that invades through punctures made in the outer skin by various insects.[17

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_pepper​