What's safe and what's not

[twinbeaks]

I do not know EXACTLY what's OK for them to eat. I have given them lots of food. Is it okay for them to eat scrambled eggs.

Also, I heard that chickens cannot eat acidic (SP) foods like oranges, lemons, or limes. Can they eat avocado??? Luckily, I haven't ever given them those foods that I just mentioned. This is a very crazy question. Can chickens eat cookies or candy and stuff like that. I don't feed them that.............................just wondering

tee hee

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Scrambled eggs are fine. Avocado is bad as it's poisonous. Below is a list I've created that will help.

Foods that Chickens Love!

Berries

Greens Don’t give out iceberg lettuce, which is really just green-tinged, unhealthy water and don’t overdo spinach which can result in poor egg quality if fed to often.

Eggs and Eggshells-Remember to rinse and crush the shells and cook the eggs before feeding. Scrambled and boiled eggs are also a wonderful snack for chicks and molting chickens.

Fruits The fruits you give them can be damaged but never moldy.

Garlic-Garlic is very healthy for chickens and acts a natural wormer, laying stimulant, feather re-grower and boosts the circulatory system. It’s also helpful to put in the water or food when a chicken is sick.

Herbs Basil, thyme, comfrey, parsley, bay leaves, lavender, calendula, spearmint, lemongrass, catnip, sage, oregano, yarrow, chickweed, marjoram, cilantro, peppermint, clover, dandelions, dill, bee balm, echinacea, fennel, mint, feverfew, garlic, ginger, lemon balm, marigold, nasturtium, nettles, pineapple sage, rosemary, wormwood and cinnamon.

Dairy

Meat Scraps Don't feed them spoiled meat, as it’s poisonous.

Vegetable

Pumpkins and Squash

Spaghetti, Pasta, Bread and Rice

Bread, Cake, Cookies, Cereal, etc Scrape off the frosting on cake and cookies.

Garden or Yard Weeds Avoid feeding them yew, mushrooms or fungi.

Foods to Never Feed Your Chickens:

Alcohol

Moldy Foods

Anything Salty

Asparagus-This will change the flavor of a hen’s egg to a bad taste but it otherwise is not harmful.

Avocado-Avocado has a fatty acid in it called “persin” which sadly can be fatal to chickens and sometimes other birds.

Green Areas of Potatoes, Peels and Potato Sprouts-All are poisonous to chickens and you personally shouldn’t eat them either!

Herbs and Plants to Stay Away from-Azalea, philodendron, rhododendron, sweet pea, black nightshade, foxglove, oleander, castor bean, vetch, henbane, irises, lantana, St. john's wort, trumpets vine, morning glory, datura, clematis and honeysuckle. If any of the herbs you are wondering about are not listed in this book, look them up before giving to your flock.

Leaves from Tomato, Pepper, Potato, Eggplant or Nightshade Plants

Onions-Onions contain a substance called “thiosulphate” which will kill red blood cells, cause anemia and sometimes even result in death.

Potatoes-Surprisingly, potatoes contain solanine which causes diarrhea, heart failure and kills red blood cells. However, sweet potatoes do not contain this substance and are perfectly fine and dandy to feed to your flock. Sweet potato fries are also fine as long as they aren’t salted.

Processed Foods and Sweets

Raw, Dry Beans

Raw Peanuts and Other Nuts

Rhubarb leaves-Rhubarb leaves surprisingly contain oxalic acid which is poisonous to chickens.

Tobacco

 

[twinbeaks]

Wow..............................................................................................that is a lot of good information. Thanks you so much for all that info. anyways... hwo do you know all that stuff<<computer, memory??>> that is really valuable. THank you so much. AMEN-- GODS NOT DEAD!!!

 

[WVDoug]

My chickens cleaned out a halved orange real quick. Loved it!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Mountain Peeps, I commend you for putting this list together. Don’t take my comments wrong. It’s real easy to nitpick any list like this that anyone puts together and I’m going to do that some. I don’t know what your sources are but I do know it took a lot of work and thought to put this list together.

There are a few things to remember about the foods harmful to chickens.

It’s not likely with any of the truly harmful stuff that you will see a chicken take one bite and fall over dead. Generally, one bite won’t kill them. There is something called dosage. They have to eat a certain amount before any harm is done. Sometimes the effect is cumulative, they would need to eat the same thing several days or even weeks in a row before any harm is done. Sometimes the body flushes the poisons out of their system fairly fast so there is no real cumulative effect.

For example, Solanine is on that list. That is what causes the green leaves of potatoes, tomatoes, and some other plants to be poisonous. It also tastes bitter so they are not likely to eat very much of it to start with, but you can always find an exception to any rule. Some chickens will strip the leaves off a tomato plant.

The green potato skins contain concentrated solanine. The green comes from photosynthesis, not solanine. That comes from exposure to the sun, but that exposure to the sun also causes the potato to produce solanine, so you should not eat green potato skins. Solanine is harmful to human beings as well as chickens. It depends on the general health and the size of a person but a normal healthy human being would need to eat maybe 2 to 4 pounds of green potatoes or green potato skins to cause harm, depend also on the concentration (dosage) of the solanine in the green potato. Chickens are a lot smaller than people so the amount they would need to eat is a lot less to cause harm, but it is not one bite. Still, green potatoes contain concentrations of solanine so don’t eat it yourself or feed it to your chickens.

Since solanine is caused by exposure to the sun, I’m a bit surprised to see regular non-green potatoes on that list. That’s the first I’ve heard of regular non-green potatoes containing solanine, but if a normal healthy human would need to eat 2 to 4 pounds of green potatoes to be harmed by the concentrated solanine in green potatoes, I can’t imagine how many pounds of potatoes you would have to eat for that amount of solanine to cause you or your chickens any damage. I’m not going to stop eating regular white potatoes myself or stop feeding it to my chickens because of what might be a trace amount of solanine in a regular potato.

Practically everything contains something potentially harmful to you or your chickens. Cabbage or members of the cabbage family is on practically any list as a great treat for chickens, yet it contains a substance that can damage the thyroid. A normal human would have to eat 3 to 5 pounds of cabbage every day for a few weeks to cause harm to their thyroid. How many of us are going to eat that volume of cabbage that consistently? How many of our chickens are going to eat an equivalent amount considering body weight? Cabbage will remain on my menu and my chickens’ menu, but I’m not going to eat mass quantities every day for weeks on end nor make it the main food my chickens eat every day.

I see citrus on practically any list of harmful foods, yet Florida did a study on feeding waste orange pulp to chickens. I don’t know the concentration they fed, whether they fed only broilers or maybe layers, and I don’t know what the supposed harmful effects are. Maybe the acid effects how they absorb calcium for egg shells so it would be fine for broilers? I don’t know. But it is possible that a food might have a bad effect in one circumstance, say layers, while have no harmful effects in other circumstances, like broilers. Or maybe it is the other way around? Some of these studies don’t give the information you need.

Many times the harmful effects are not evident. The damage may be to an internal organ, especially the liver since the liver is the organ that filters out the poisons but kidneys and other organs can be affected too. The damage may not be enough to cause any noticeable effects but the chicken may not be quite as productive as it normally would be. Or it may be weakened enough so that the chicken’s immune system is compromised. A disease or parasite load that it could normally handle may be enough to kill it. Or maybe stress a normally healthy chickens could easily handle causes that chicken to fall over dead for no apparent reason, maybe months or even years later.

It’s hard to know what is safe to feed chickens. You get so many different opinions and you generally can’t tell by their reactions as to what is harming them. The way I try to go about it is to not feed them massive quantities of things day in and day out. Moderation is my key. I try to avoid quantities of things I know contain things that can be harmful, like green potato skins or uncooked dried beans, but if one occasional stray bite gets in, I don’t worry about it. Fruit seeds, like apple seeds, contain arsenic, but in minute quantities. I toss them apple cores and such without any worries whatsoever but when I make applesauce and have a large quantity of concentrated seeds left over I don’t put them where the chickens will find them. Moderation.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Mountain Peeps, I commend you for putting this list together. Don’t take my comments wrong. It’s real easy to nitpick any list like this that anyone puts together and I’m going to do that some. I don’t know what your sources are but I do know it took a lot of work and thought to put this list together.

There are a few things to remember about the foods harmful to chickens.

It’s not likely with any of the truly harmful stuff that you will see a chicken take one bite and fall over dead. Generally, one bite won’t kill them. There is something called dosage. They have to eat a certain amount before any harm is done. Sometimes the effect is cumulative, they would need to eat the same thing several days or even weeks in a row before any harm is done. Sometimes the body flushes the poisons out of their system fairly fast so there is no real cumulative effect.

For example, Solanine is on that list. That is what causes the green leaves of potatoes, tomatoes, and some other plants to be poisonous. It also tastes bitter so they are not likely to eat very much of it to start with, but you can always find an exception to any rule. Some chickens will strip the leaves off a tomato plant.

The green potato skins contain concentrated solanine. The green comes from photosynthesis, not solanine. That comes from exposure to the sun, but that exposure to the sun also causes the potato to produce solanine, so you should not eat green potato skins. Solanine is harmful to human beings as well as chickens. It depends on the general health and the size of a person but a normal healthy human being would need to eat maybe 2 to 4 pounds of green potatoes or green potato skins to cause harm, depend also on the concentration (dosage) of the solanine in the green potato. Chickens are a lot smaller than people so the amount they would need to eat is a lot less to cause harm, but it is not one bite. Still, green potatoes contain concentrations of solanine so don’t eat it yourself or feed it to your chickens.

Since solanine is caused by exposure to the sun, I’m a bit surprised to see regular non-green potatoes on that list. That’s the first I’ve heard of regular non-green potatoes containing solanine, but if a normal healthy human would need to eat 2 to 4 pounds of green potatoes to be harmed by the concentrated solanine in green potatoes, I can’t imagine how many pounds of potatoes you would have to eat for that amount of solanine to cause you or your chickens any damage. I’m not going to stop eating regular white potatoes myself or stop feeding it to my chickens because of what might be a trace amount of solanine in a regular potato.

Practically everything contains something potentially harmful to you or your chickens. Cabbage or members of the cabbage family is on practically any list as a great treat for chickens, yet it contains a substance that can damage the thyroid. A normal human would have to eat 3 to 5 pounds of cabbage every day for a few weeks to cause harm to their thyroid. How many of us are going to eat that volume of cabbage that consistently? How many of our chickens are going to eat an equivalent amount considering body weight? Cabbage will remain on my menu and my chickens’ menu, but I’m not going to eat mass quantities every day for weeks on end nor make it the main food my chickens eat every day.

I see citrus on practically any list of harmful foods, yet Florida did a study on feeding waste orange pulp to chickens. I don’t know the concentration they fed, whether they fed only broilers or maybe layers, and I don’t know what the supposed harmful effects are. Maybe the acid effects how they absorb calcium for egg shells so it would be fine for broilers? I don’t know. But it is possible that a food might have a bad effect in one circumstance, say layers, while have no harmful effects in other circumstances, like broilers. Or maybe it is the other way around? Some of these studies don’t give the information you need.

Many times the harmful effects are not evident. The damage may be to an internal organ, especially the liver since the liver is the organ that filters out the poisons but kidneys and other organs can be affected too. The damage may not be enough to cause any noticeable effects but the chicken may not be quite as productive as it normally would be. Or it may be weakened enough so that the chicken’s immune system is compromised. A disease or parasite load that it could normally handle may be enough to kill it. Or maybe stress a normally healthy chickens could easily handle causes that chicken to fall over dead for no apparent reason, maybe months or even years later.

It’s hard to know what is safe to feed chickens. You get so many different opinions and you generally can’t tell by their reactions as to what is harming them. The way I try to go about it is to not feed them massive quantities of things day in and day out. Moderation is my key. I try to avoid quantities of things I know contain things that can be harmful, like green potato skins or uncooked dried beans, but if one occasional stray bite gets in, I don’t worry about it. Fruit seeds, like apple seeds, contain arsenic, but in minute quantities. I toss them apple cores and such without any worries whatsoever but when I make applesauce and have a large quantity of concentrated seeds left over I don’t put them where the chickens will find them. Moderation.

Scrambled eggs are fine. Avocado is bad as it's poisonous. Below is a list I've created that will help.

Foods that Chickens Love!

Berries

Greens Don’t give out iceberg lettuce, which is really just green-tinged, unhealthy water and don’t overdo spinach which can result in poor egg quality if fed to often.

Eggs and Eggshells-Remember to rinse and crush the shells and cook the eggs before feeding. Scrambled and boiled eggs are also a wonderful snack for chicks and molting chickens.

Fruits The fruits you give them can be damaged but never moldy.

Garlic-Garlic is very healthy for chickens and acts a natural wormer, laying stimulant, feather re-grower and boosts the circulatory system. It’s also helpful to put in the water or food when a chicken is sick.

Herbs Basil, thyme, comfrey, parsley, bay leaves, lavender, calendula, spearmint, lemongrass, catnip, sage, oregano, yarrow, chickweed, marjoram, cilantro, peppermint, clover, dandelions, dill, bee balm, echinacea, fennel, mint, feverfew, garlic, ginger, lemon balm, marigold, nasturtium, nettles, pineapple sage, rosemary, wormwood and cinnamon.

Dairy

Meat Scraps Don't feed them spoiled meat, as it’s poisonous.

Vegetable

Pumpkins and Squash

Spaghetti, Pasta, Bread and Rice

Bread, Cake, Cookies, Cereal, etc Scrape off the frosting on cake and cookies.

Garden or Yard Weeds Avoid feeding them yew, mushrooms or fungi.

Foods to Never Feed Your Chickens:

Alcohol

Moldy Foods

Anything Salty

Asparagus-This will change the flavor of a hen’s egg to a bad taste but it otherwise is not harmful.

Avocado-Avocado has a fatty acid in it called “persin” which sadly can be fatal to chickens and sometimes other birds.

Green Areas of Potatoes, Peels and Potato Sprouts-All are poisonous to chickens and you personally shouldn’t eat them either!

Herbs and Plants to Stay Away from-Azalea, philodendron, rhododendron, sweet pea, black nightshade, foxglove, oleander, castor bean, vetch, henbane, irises, lantana, St. john's wort, trumpets vine, morning glory, datura, clematis and honeysuckle. If any of the herbs you are wondering about are not listed in this book, look them up before giving to your flock.

Leaves from Tomato, Pepper, Potato, Eggplant or Nightshade Plants

Onions-Onions contain a substance called “thiosulphate” which will kill red blood cells, cause anemia and sometimes even result in death.

Potatoes-Surprisingly, potatoes contain solanine which causes diarrhea, heart failure and kills red blood cells. However, sweet potatoes do not contain this substance and are perfectly fine and dandy to feed to your flock. Sweet potato fries are also fine as long as they aren’t salted.

Processed Foods and Sweets

Raw, Dry Beans

Raw Peanuts and Other Nuts

Rhubarb leaves-Rhubarb leaves surprisingly contain oxalic acid which is poisonous to chickens.

Tobacco

This is what I have learned. I still go by it. I don't think I'll change my thinking. I've done research on each food item I listed and even looked up stiudies that have been done to insure the correct answers.