Topic of the Week - Toxic treats and foraging

[flagirl]

back when i had my only a cochin rooster i gave him a lemon quarter. he looked sideways at it then shook his neck feathers and walked away, clearly saying yeah that's gonna happen. befoe i knew about avocado i lost two birds to it. and good to know about buttercups. my chickens won't touch it. good thing too because i did not know it was toxic.

I live in florida and had a huge avacado tree that the hens loved to sit under in summer. they would peck the fallen avocado's to open the skin and eat all the flesh. they left the cleaned skin in tack and the pit. never lost a hen.

 

[Wooper]

I agree with Ridgrunner - our girls will choose wisely when foraging in the garden and only eat what is safe for them. Avocados are a complete no no for just about all birds as are any foods that we wouldnt want to eat ourselves (green potatoes, mouldy food etc).
Keeping grass short (especially when it is lush in the spring) and keeping EVERYTHING as clean as possible works too - just get into the habit of checking the chickens daily, giving fresh feed and water in clean feeders and drinkers and poo pick each time you go out to them - this means that nothing becomes a big chore and you know exactly whats happening in the flock!

 

[jgm0348]

Has anyone gotten fishing worms for them as a treat?

 

[centrarchid]

Mine with unlimited access to earthworms / fishing worms seem to get tired of eating them for some reason.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Has anyone gotten fishing worms for them as a treat?

My experience is the same as centrarchid, they eat what they want when they want but get bored quickly during the "worm season".

What is meant by fishing worms? Night crawlers and red wigglers both work fine, but I'm sure there are more.

I used to raise red wigglers, in a compost bin. Back then I lived in the desert and my 3 girls ate them up. Now I live in the PNW and worms are prolific. I did get my start from worms acquired at a place selling bait, but it's MUCH cheaper to buy in bulk.

Also, lay yourself down a piece of cardboard and keep it good and wet for a couple to 3 days and *usually* you can go out and lift it up for the birds to score many worms. Before long they know the routine and race you to the cardboard.

 

[centrarchid]

Not all worms same. Some appear to taste nasty based on activity of chickens.

 

[Shirley531]

I never knew avocados are toxic, so thanks for that info. Although you'd have to have really posh chickens to feed them avos in the UK as a good ripe one will set you back $2 (USD).

 

[Shirley531]

Mine love cat food - it's my 'last resort' food to get them in to the coop when they want to stay out longer. Which is great, because the cat just licks the jelly off and leaves the lumps, while the chickens like the lumps but not the jelly.

 

[lcertuche]

My chickens will eat anything that doesn't eat them! They eat whatever I throw out. The only thing that has killed them is dogs and occasionally a young one will get hurt/killed when larger birds land on them coming off the roost in the morning.

 

[will23]

I know one thing you should never give your chickens is watermelon. A friend of mine had four hens and a rooster. She tossed a quarter of a seedless watermelon in the pen and they devoured it. About eight hours later she had four dead hens.