Can it Hurt Them?

[desertlady]

I was told while back that tomato plants were so toxic to chickens , but they will eat them right down to the ground. and they all lived ! they will eat any rotten lettuce !! The only problem I have was bad feed that nearly killed them a while back. (possible infected with mice)

 

[GardenGeisha]

Well, just because they live doesn't mean they haven't done damage to their kidneys/livers. I am careful not to feed the rooster laying mash because the calcium is cumulative and can eventually send him to an early grave.

So I am careful what I give them.

I don't give them any rotten food at all. The lettuce I have is lovely. It was grown in fresh manure, though. That is what I am worried about, not that it is in any way rotten. The manure could have contaminated the plant with listeria, e-coli, salmonella, or tetanus, but not terribly likely. Usually a 90-day window is safe. I hope I'm not making a mistake.

I'll tell you, they snarfed up that fresh lettuce from the manure patch far faster than any lettuces I've bought them. They just ripped it out of my hand. It must be very, very tasty to them, probably because it's so fresh? I mean, they inhaled it. HAHA

I've read that tulips are toxic to chickens and mine ate the leaves, but it turns out it is only the tulip bulbs that are toxic to chickens, not the leaves.

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

If it would hurt them our chickens, turkeys and emu would have been long gone by now. Heck they dig through the fresh dung for any undigested corn/grain/whatever. I don't even know if they can contract e-coli.

THANX RICH

X2 At the risk of sounding gross our chickens see a fresh cow pattie and I am pretty sure I can hear them scream, "FOOD!" as they run as fast as they can to it.

 

[GardenGeisha]

LOL, Stubbornhillfarm!