PLANTS POISONOUS TO CHICKENS

[Aji Dulce]

What about those who allow their chickens compost pile access, should we be filtering out the veggies and fruits listed here or will chickens "pen around them"?

Good question, I have heard more than once that they have a sense of what to avoid. I actually came here looking for information on garlic chives. I pulled a lot up and I’m wondering if the chickens can eat it without harming them.

 

[AGstudy]

WHY ARE TOMATOE AND POTATO PLANTS DANGEROUS TO CHICKENS?
It is the leaves and plant stocks that are bad for chickens also the green potatoes do not feed to your chickens. Nor any citrus juice or the rines.

Poisonous ornamental plants
Even though many ornamental plants are mildly toxic or poisonous to chickens, they’re highly unlikely to eat these plants while free-ranging. While sheep, goats, and other livestock animals will eat toxic plants, chickens rarely do.
When chickens eat something poisonous, it’s usually because someone unintentionally fed them something poisonous or underfed them while they were confined and exposed to something poisonous.
The following are some of the more common ornamental plants potentially toxic, yet unlikely that chickens would freely eat these.
•Azalea: Rhododendron spp.
•Boxwood: Buxus spp.
•Buttercup family: Ranunculaceae. This family includes anemone, clematis, delphinium, and ranunculus.
•Cherry laurel: Prunus laurocerasus.
•Daffodil: Narcissus spp.
•Daphne: Daphne spp.
•Foxglove: Digitalis spp.
•Honeysuckle: Lonicera spp.
•Hydrangea: Hydrangea spp.
•Ivy: Hedera spp.
•Jasmine: Jasminum spp.
•Lantana: Lantana spp.
•Lily of the valley: Convallaria majalis.
•Mexican poppy: Argemone mexicana
•Monkshood: Aconitum napellus.
•Mountain laurel: Kalmia latifolia.
•Oleander: Nerium oleander.
•Rhododendron: Rhododendron spp.
•Sweet pea: Lathyrus spp.
•Tobacco: Nicotiana spp.
•Tulip: Tulipa
•Wisteria: Wisteria spp.
•Yew: Taxus spp.
Poisonous edible plants
The following list contains suggestions for edibles to avoid with hand-feeding and free-ranging chickens:
•Avocado skin and pits contain persin, which is toxic to chickens.
•Avoid citrus juice and skins.
•Don’t give chickens any edible containing salt, sugar, coffee, or liquor.
•Uncooked raw or dried beans contain hemaglutin, which is poisonous to chickens.
•Raw green potato skins contain solanine, which is poisonous to chickens.
•Onions are a poor food to give to chickens because onions flavor eggs. Large quantities of onions can be harmful to chickens, affecting their red blood cells, causing hemolytic anemia or Heinz anemia.
•Avoid feeding or free-ranging chickens specific unshelled nuts of walnuts (Juglans spp.), black walnuts (Juglans nigrs), hazelnuts (Corylus), and pecans (Carya illinoinensis).
•Don’t give your chickens leaves of rhubarb, potato, or tomato plants.
Deadly poisonous plants found in pastures
These plants are not only extremely poisonous to poultry, but also to many other types of livestock and humans. This is not an inclusive list, and be aware that these plants can be found in other areas besides pastures, such as meadows, wilderness areas, and sometimes in gardens as volunteers
These are the types of plants you absolutely should never expose your chickens to:
•Black locust: Robinia pseudoacacia.
•Bladderpod: Glottidium vasicarium.
•Death Camas: Zigadenus spp.
•Castor bean: Ricinus communis.
•European black nightshade: Solanum nigrum.
•Corn cockle: Agrostemma githago.
•Horsenettle: Datura stramonium.
•Milkweed: Asclepias tuberosa. And other varieties.
•Mushrooms: Amanita spp. Death Cap, Destroying Angel, Panther Cap. Extremely deadly and poisonous if ingested.
•Jimsonweed: Datura stramonium.
•Poison hemlock: Conium maculatum.
•Pokeberry: Phytolacca americana.
•Rosary pea: Arbus precatorius.
•Water Hemlock: Cicuta spp.
•White snakeroot: Ageratina altissima.

Black Nightshade, Solanum nigrum, berries are edible once they turn black, as their solanine (the toxic alkaloid) content will drop as they ripen. This is similar to the tomato plant, which has the toxic alkaloid tomatine that also drops to safe levels as it ripens.

My chickens free range and are good foragers. They will pick and eat the black ripened berries off the wild black nightshade bushes and leave the vegetation and green berries alone. They will search the plants daily for new ripe berries. It is pretty funny to watch them to jump vertically to intentionally get the one ripe berry on the top of a bush.

 

[AJtheWolfe]

What about tiger lilies (or ditch lilies as my hubby so lovingly calls them)? I know they can be toxic to cats, but unsure of chickens. We placed our coop/run in early spring (before any greenery had started to pop) & we’re now seeing a few lilies pop up in the run. Wondering if I should concern myself with digging them out, or if they’re fine.

 

[speedy2020]

I know this is an old thread, but pass the information out. I thrown the tomato cutting in the coop during Oct every year. The chicken eat them without any issue. I am planing throw more cutting with 100 of cherry tomatoes (green, yellow, and red) in the next few days.

 

[cjworldview]

Chickens are not dogs. My chickens will not eat things they aren’t suppose to have, -unless I mix it with something they really want. I don’t throw garlic flavored meat to my chickens, but I will throw garlic cast offs into the compost bin they have access to. My dogs on the other hand . . . there’s too many things to list. I have to have a dog fence around my garden. You don’t need to worry about your chickens so much. They seem to instinctively know they can’t have banana peels or things toxic to them.