is it safe for chickens to eat english ivy?

[substandardtim]

Where I want to put my coop and run theres a large ammount of english ivy growing, I will be ripping most of it down, however as you know it has a tendency to grow back.

will it be safe for the chicken to eat if it grows back? I dont want them eating something that could make them ill or make the eggs taste off.

on the other hand if they can eat it and its fine for them it would be nice for them to keep it pruned down

 

[MoodyChicken]

If it's of the Hedera spp, then it's a category 2 and 4 toxin. Don't let your birds eat it, they can get very sick and possibly die.

 

[substandardtim]

hmm, that's not good. there are many areas on our property where at least some ivy is growing.

I found a topic from may of last year where someone mentioned that their chickens love when they are pulling ivy down because there is lots of interesting stuff underneath. didn't say anything about whether or not they eat it though.

 

[MoodyChicken]

I don't think the birds would eat it though. Chickens tend to prefer soft grasses and weeds, not glossy, leaves. Try salting the soil where you want your chicken coop. The birds won't eat the salt and enough of it will kill the ivy.

 

[SussexInSeattle]

Do you have enough property to also get a goat?

 

[substandardtim]

we actually dealt with ivy next to the house with boiling hot water that was heavily saturated with salt. works pretty well. probably not as good as commercial chemicals but far safer too.

as for a goat...i've got a strong aversion to goats. always have.