Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: jesschocolate28 on April 26, 2011, 18:49

Title: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: jesschocolate28 on April 26, 2011, 18:49
A couple of hours ago i fed my 2 chickens about half a raw green bean in total, but a minute ago i read that it can kill them to eat raw beans:S please could someone tell me if this is true, and if so what i should do :'( also are there any other fruit or veg that chickens shouldnt eat? thanks.
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: freckledbeck on April 26, 2011, 19:53
I wouldn't worry too much!  ;)
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: bantam novice on April 26, 2011, 20:33
From what I read on here chickens seem to be pretty good at avoiding food that is no good for them.  I have found that mine avoid lettuce so I stopped giving it to them.  They also tend to avoid onions, leeks and garlic.
Good luck and keep us posted  :)
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: Jacinta on April 26, 2011, 22:34
No avocados, citrus fruit (i think) or green potato peelings, some say rhubarb leaves either.
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: wolverine on April 27, 2011, 05:51
My hens always eat green beans !!
Is this true that it is bad for them ? wooops :(
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: 8doubles on April 27, 2011, 08:47
I would think that raw bean poisoning would be from dried seed, kidney beans etc.
I do not know that hens would be affected anyhow as many birds can safely eat berries and seed that are poisonous to mammals, better safe than sorry though.

Rhubarb leaves should not be fed to hens but if the hens escape and eat them do not panic as they do no harm in small amounts.
I know that for a fact ! ;)
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: Aidy on April 27, 2011, 09:54
Green beans do contain cyanide, this is why if you eat enough of them raw you will have an upset tummy, so I suspect the same applies to chooks if they eat enough of them, half of one I dont think will do any harm, I would cook them first tho to be totaly sure.
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: ajkula77 on April 27, 2011, 10:24
Lord, just seen this post..my chooks are always eating the rhubarb leaves in the garden. some seem to eat more tham others, but they're all 3/4 years old and happy as larry, laying an egg a day each so clearly hasn't done them too much harm!
I do know they don't like potatos!
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: dollybird on April 28, 2011, 18:31
my girls like cooked beetroot but boy did i get a shock later on when there was red poo every where...  is it ok for them to have the rhubarb sticks i have got tons in the garden or is that also bad for them too
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: muntjac on April 28, 2011, 21:51
chickens aint that dumb they cant taste whats they eating. now rat poison and slug pellets is another thing they are made to be tasty  :ohmy:
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: 8doubles on April 29, 2011, 08:05
It suprises me how fast hens are at tasting food , in the beak two or three touches with their tongue and down the hatch or dropped. :)
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: outercircle on April 29, 2011, 08:36
There was a piece in the Guardian in Notes and queries about whether or not chickens have taste buds and what are their favourite foods - the answers were somewhat eclectic. Despite previous posts, mine love potatoes, onions, garlic and leeks and I had to fence off the rhubarb otherwise there'd have been none left to make wine!
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: hillfooter on April 30, 2011, 04:37
Generally cook all veg including potatoes as they can't digest starch without it being boiled first.  I'm surprised at chx eating onions which has very little nutritional value.  Anything with seeds, apart from citrus fruits, are OK including melon and pumpkin seeds.
HF
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: jesschocolate28 on June 01, 2011, 18:45
thanks :) my chickens are great & were fine, although i will cook the beans next time just to be sure ;) maybe they can avoid wats bad for them, although mine obviously think everthing is good for them, as i saw minnie trying to eat a plastic bottle top :tongue2: anyway, thanks for helping guys i was really worried! minnie & bonnie are great  :lol: thanks!
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: Junie on June 01, 2011, 20:24
Always ck potatoe skins, mine love all cooked peelings.
The only thing I think is poinonous is citrus and chocolaye.  My info says onion taints the meat, but you could always think of it as ready marinated!!

Mine love onions but they do get them in moderation
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: bramford on June 01, 2011, 21:50
as said before if they don't like it they won't eat it  :)
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: Robster on June 01, 2011, 21:55
I read a similar thing about beans last year after mine had eaten a few.  I panicked but they were fine as I am sure yours will be.  They are pretty smart a knowing what's what.  I do avoid anything salty, I read something once.  So they don't get leftover crisps or anything like that.
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: Madrat on June 02, 2011, 22:22
Mine love grapes and blanket weed from the pond, cabbage of any kind is also devoured.  I had to fence off my foxgloves and asters as they were eating them as well. :wacko:
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: hillfooter on June 03, 2011, 12:48
I read a similar thing about beans last year after mine had eaten a few.  I panicked but they were fine as I am sure yours will be.  They are pretty smart a knowing what's what.  I do avoid anything salty, I read something once.  So they don't get leftover crisps or anything like that.

The best way to ensure your birds don't get leftover crisps is to make sure you eat them all.  Crisps or chickens both are equally effective in preventing this. ::)
HF
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: VickyW on July 20, 2011, 14:19
Generally cook all veg including potatoes as they can't digest starch without it being boiled first.  I'm surprised at chx eating onions which has very little nutritional value.  Anything with seeds, apart from citrus fruits, are OK including melon and pumpkin seeds.
HF

I have a melon, so will have seeds, do I do anything to them? dry them etc
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: 8doubles on July 20, 2011, 16:53
As they come out of the melon is fine. Hens can get more melon off the skin than we can manage with a spoon too !
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: 3Bluebelles on July 21, 2011, 07:29
Our girls once devoured a patch of leeks in the garden, including digging up and eating the roots. We then had a week of eggs smelling and tasting of leeks!

Nice in an omelette, but doesn't really work in fairy cakes!!!!
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: hillfooter on July 21, 2011, 18:20
as said before if they don't like it they won't eat it  :)

Just because they like it is not necessarily a good guide to what you should be feeding them.  After all kids like icecream, chocolate, burgers abnd curly fries but it's not a good idea to let them eat them on a regular basis.

In general chx will eat anything with seeds but avoid citrus fruits and don't over indulge them with treat feeds and particularly processed foods like pasta.  Layers pellets should form the bulk of their diet and a bit of foraging should be encouraged.  Low energy food is good so they need to eat a significant bulk of fibre which will keep them active to get the energy intake they need.

HF
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: Sideshoot on July 24, 2011, 07:57
trying to keep mine from eating the tomato leaves is a constant task, they seem to want to try everything they see lol

Is uncooked corn on the cob ok ? mine love it.
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: jesschocolate28 on July 30, 2011, 12:49
Thanks guys (im a veggie and my chickens mean the world to me so i will not be eating them, howeveer i have discovered their love of bread;))
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: hillfooter on July 30, 2011, 13:14
Thanks guys (im a veggie and my chickens mean the world to me so i will not be eating them, howeveer i have discovered their love of bread;))

Whether you intend to eat your chx or not is irrelevant as far as the law on what you feed them is concerned.  It's the fact that chx as a species are classed as a "farmed animal"  even though yours may be pets which determines that the law applies to them.

HF
Title: Re: What foods should chickens not eat...
Post by: jesschocolate28 on July 30, 2011, 13:26
I meant about the post on giving them onions to give their meat more flavour:) they do eat a variety as they forage alot and are constantly eating everything they can in our vegetable patch, as well as lots of corn, grit(such as oyster shells) and layers pellets. However now they are only eating layers pelltes with Flubenvet mixed in because Bonnie has developed a serious case of worms:/