What? Chickens can't eat clover?

[applegal]

Thanks Lute for the google search information! My chickens love the clover in the yard. I do believe, like many others, that chickens know which plants to eat. I throw potato peels in the compost pile and they just kick em aside looking for worms other tasty treats.

 

[jdeoliveira74]

where are you in nc wilmington here!

Does anyone know if it's ok to put my new pullets out in this pasture to free range after it has been harvested of soybeans and wild turkeys hang out in it all day long? This is a picture of the coop we're building and we get our new chicks in 3 days.

But I have read a lot about people being careful about introducing new hens to their existing flocks so as to not bring in a disease etc. But how about my bringing my new chickens to an existing field of turkey cooties and poopies?

The picture is of our coop we are building and you can see very well how the turkeys are enjoying all around it. Leaving their
marks no doubt. lol. Thank you. Kim

 

[Frecs]

where are you in nc wilmington here!

I'm south of you in Calabash!

 

[jdeoliveira74]

Calabash I got thru alot.

 

[BuffOrpington88]

Mine have been on it with no ill effects. It is most likely there because it may grow mold.

 

[the1much]

kim i would worry more about the turkeys picking on and killing your chicks then the cooties. if they had bad cooties they wouldnt be so many of them and they wouldnt look in such good shape.

 

[ignatz]

Kinda wierd how chickens have survived through the ages, especially back in the times when no one had all that dumb 'information' about what a chicken can and can't eat. The birds sure seemed to do pretty well on their own before mankind decided they'd make a great species to domesticate and will continue to do so if people would quit worrying so much and just let them eat what *they* know they can eat and not eat.

I guess since mine eat/have eaten:

Buttercup, Clover, Hemp, Milkweed, mint (I've never heard of 'purple mint'), Rhubarb

from that list, I suppose I should keep waking in the early morn's and expecting them to all be dead from whatever it is those plants are supposed to do to them. That morn' hasn't happened yet and I guarantee I won't hold my breath waiting for it either, lol.

 

[griffinkid02]

The March/April issue of Chickens (Hobby Farms) has an article on safetly free ranging your chickens in your yard. A sidebar has a list of toxic plants. Most of these make sense...

Buckeye
Buttercup
Clover
Fireweed
Foxglove
Ground Ivy
Hemlock
Hemp
Hyacinth
Hydrangea
Japanese Yew
Jimson Weed
Kentucky Coffee Tree
Lantana
Larkspur
Lily-of-the-Valley
Lupine
Milkweed
Purple Mint
Nicker Tree
Nightshade
Ohio Buckeye
Oleander
Philodendron
Rhododendron
Rhubarb
Saint-John's-wort
Sudan Grass
Tulip

But clover??? That's safe for human consumption, unlike all of the others. I've read several posts where members recommend giving clover to their chickens, and my front lawn is full of it during the summer. Can anyone clarify this for me?

Wait..... clover? And.... MILKWEED????? Oh no, the girls will absolutely revolt when I tell them their favorite two veggies are off the menu. On the otherhand, they may think it's a red letter day as I try to pull up all of the clover clumps and milkweed stalks growing within reach of their pen... Oh, wait, that's right. There ARN'T any growing within reach of their pen... they ate them all. lol

Don't get me wrong, I have been suspicious of the milkweed all along, but when i pull weeds out of the beds and garden it ALL goes into the henpen for foraging. And You have NEVER seen such a jealousy inspred flogging as when one of the girls finds the ONLY milkweed plant in the bucketload, lol. Hasn't hurt them yet.

 

[Texokie1]

Any ideas about pokeweed? I've read that wild birds can eat it without ill effects, but the mature leaves and berries are poisonous to people and horses. (We spend a huge amount of time each spring/summer battling this stupid weed...the purple-red berries are very tempting for kids...my son used to like to grab handfuls and get the juice all over the place...and then I'd worry if he got any in his mouth.) If chickens can eat it with no problems, I'm gonna let THEM take care of it...

 

[mayberrygirl]

Well, I know my chickens love 3 leaf clovers (I keep the 4 leaf kind to myself

), but they won't touch the white or purple clover flowers

so maybe that is what they are referring to??