Yew Tree Conundrum

[BigBlueHen53]

Keep us posted, but my money says they'll be fine.

 

[Buckeye Amy]

I don’t think birds process toxins the way mammals do. We already know they don’t process medications like mammals. I’m not a vet, just a hunch based on what I’ve seen my birds eat that they shouldn’t.

 

[Logar]

@Logar @BigBlueHen53 @nuthatched I guess I'll find out the hard way. I'd turned my back on the girls for 10 seconds today and they managed to run up to the yew bush and definitely ate some berries (seed included, which is the most toxic part ). Fingers crossed.

They will almost certainly be fine. they will probably try it once and not try it again. Fingers crossed they will be fine but I wouldn’t worry too much.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Berries are designed to be eaten. Typically the berries that are poisonous to mammals are edible to birds. My chickens are constantly eating plants that would kill me and they're perfectly fine

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

@BigBlueHen53 @BuckeyeAmy69 @Logar @No Coop No Problem

thank you everyone for the encouraging words. This will be a good learning experience and I'll keep you all posted. From what I've read, I should know they survived their brush with the yew berries within a few hours.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Just for closure's sake: my chickens are all okay. I can't be 100% they ate the seeds, but I'm pretty sure they got some.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

great, good to hear! So either they didn't eat anything they shouldn't, or they did but it did them no harm. Maybe their poops will tell you something.

 

[wsfwsf]

We recently moved to a new house and came to realize that a rather large, beautiful tree in the yard is actually supposed to be super toxic basically to all species (with a few exceptions). When one of my chickens started going for the red berries, I stopped her, looked it up, and was horrified.

My chickens are in an enclosed run far from the tree (and we will be careful that any bedding we add isn't from the area od the yew tree). But they do free range, supervised, and one of the corners of the fenced in yard houses that yew tree, which is bursting with berries. So far I've been chasing them from the area when they get close. It's a lovely spot for them to dig around in, and I feel bad keeping it off limits.l if not necessary.

So, has anyone had experiences with chickens eating the berries of a yew tree? I understand the red flesh is tasty and not toxic, but the seed is. Some sources say chickens and other birds pass the seeds intact without issue (I see squirrels and birds munching on the berries all day). Others say it is deadly to chickens. I'm considering cutting down the tree, but hesitant. Its super mature, probably as old as the house (50+ years), and has created an amazing, dense shade for our patio and west side of the house. But, of course, I love my chickens more than the tree.

Just curious if anyone had had experiences or has ideas, because all the info out there is mixed. Between all the dropping walnuts and the yew tree, I feel I've moved my girls into a hazardous environment!

Chickens are originally from Asia. Japanese yew is indigenous there. Chickens will have no problem with the tree.

 

[nuthatched]

Chickens are originally from Asia. Japanese yew is indigenous there. Chickens will have no problem with the tree.

I think you're confusing Japan with Southeast Asia, and most variety of chickens have been removed from that environment for a thousands of years.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

I think you're confusing Japan with Southeast Asia, and most variety of chickens have been removed from that environment for a thousands of years.

Pretty heavy overlap of the two distributions. Chickens aren't far removed genetically from junglefowl. It's mostly selective inbreeding that composes the genetic distance. Most breeds of chicken are probably completely fine around yew