Things I don't feed my chickens😊

[NatJ]

Can they eat the meat of the avocado?

Yes, the meat of the avocado is safe for chickens to eat.

If you slice an avocado in half and offer it to the chickens, they will eat the meat and leave the seed and peel-- smart of them! (Then again, I'll bet the peel doesn't taste good, and the seed is big and hard, so maybe they don't have to be very smart to leave those parts and just eat the good stuff.)

 

[Chikenshiken]

Cat food is definitely not bad for chickens. I feed my chickens cat food alongside chicken feed because their normal feed does not have enough protein, plus they love it anyways. I think bread should be added to the list. While bread is not toxic, it can easily bloat chickens when fed in large amounts. Better to be safe than sorry.

Mine as well. Wet cat food especially. My oldest hen as of right now isn’t feeling well and it’s ALL she’ll eat unfortunately, alongside some fruits. But it’s helping her feel better because any food for a sick hen is better than no food at all!

 

[Chikenshiken]

Why is bread not beneficial?

It’s a fine once in awhile treat but bread is a complex carbohydrate molecule that can take quite a long time to digest. Especially for birds since their digestive system definitely doesn’t work the same as ours haha! But because of the complexities of the molecule and the amount of time it actually takes to break down each bond, gas can happen.

When it comes to nutrition it’s mostly carbs which is just quick energy but this quick energy burns very fast! There are many other way healthier snacks to feed your chicken but bread once in awhile in moderation will not hurt them. Anyways, snacks aren’t always meant to be the pinnacle of health, it’s just a tasty treat!

 

[Sally Winter-Swink]

Add raw beans. Plenty of other things one shouldn't feed chickens. Somewhere out there exists an exhaustive list of foods and plants that are poisonous to chickens.

I understand the 'why' of dry beans. The beans swell in their crop. But is it okay to give them ground beans? I grind corn, sunflowers, and millet and would like to add come dried beans for protein. The mix comes out like coarse cornmeal. Any advice?

 

[NatJ]

I understand the 'why' of dry beans. The beans swell in their crop. But is it okay to give them ground beans? I grind corn, sunflowers, and millet and would like to add come dried beans for protein. The mix comes out like coarse cornmeal. Any advice?

The dryness is not a problem, any more than dry grains are a problem.

The issue is with beans that have not been cooked. Cooked is fine, whether they are wet or dry, but raw is not.

Raw beans have a toxin that is destroyed by the heat of cooking. It affects people too, except that we usually cook our beans Some beans have more than others, but there is no convenient way to check how much is in what beans, so the usual advice is to cook them all (for humans and for chickens.)

A quote about the effects in people:
"Poisoning can be induced from as few as four raw beans. Symptoms usually begin with extreme nausea and vomiting within one to three hours of ingestion, followed by diarrhea. Abdominal pain has been reported in some people. Recovery is usually spontaneous and rapid, occurring within three to four hours after onset of symptoms, although some cases have required hospitalization."
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytohaemagglutinin

 

[Sally Winter-Swink]

The dryness is not a problem, any more than dry grains are a problem.

The issue is with beans that have not been cooked. Cooked is fine, whether they are wet or dry, but raw is not.

Raw beans have a toxin that is destroyed by the heat of cooking. It affects people too, except that we usually cook our beans Some beans have more than others, but there is no convenient way to check how much is in what beans, so the usual advice is to cook them all (for humans and for chickens.)

A quote about the effects in people:
"Poisoning can be induced from as few as four raw beans. Symptoms usually begin with extreme nausea and vomiting within one to three hours of ingestion, followed by diarrhea. Abdominal pain has been reported in some people. Recovery is usually spontaneous and rapid, occurring within three to four hours after onset of symptoms, although some cases have required hospitalization."
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytohaemagglutinin

Thank you. We have an abundance of dry beans so I thought I'd ask. Interestingly, Wikipedia is referring to people, not chickens. I don't know anyone who eats uncooked dry beans! Haha!

 

[NatJ]

Thank you. We have an abundance of dry beans so I thought I'd ask. Interestingly, Wikipedia is referring to people, not chickens. I don't know anyone who eats uncooked dry beans! Haha!

Sometimes cooks nibble as they work. Or children try things.

I've also read that bean sprouts can be an issue (people are used to being able to eat sprouts raw), and that slow cookers can sometimes get beans soft and "cooked" without getting hot enough to destroy the toxins.

Here's one example of a bunch of people getting sick, and the most likely cause was undercooked beans in chili:
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2023...ercooked-kidney-beans-behind-french-outbreak/

 

[Cinnajava]

Source? Never heard of cat food being bad for chickens.

At the bottom is a response telling why... https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens.47738/

 

[Cinnajava]

Thank you. We have an abundance of dry beans so I thought I'd ask. Interestingly, Wikipedia is referring to people, not chickens. I don't know anyone who eats uncooked dry beans! Haha!

I used to as a kid... I'd try anything at least one time! I'll have to remember this now as I have been known to snack on them after they're soaked...

 

[Perris]

At the bottom is a response telling why... https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens.47738/

I don't think anybody here (or indeed anywhere outside a laboratory) is talking about "force-feeding" their chickens cat food, nor in the kind of quantities required to cause methionine toxicity.