The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: bloomer on August 07, 2014, 06:03:03 pm

Title: chickens and ivy?
Post by: bloomer on August 07, 2014, 06:03:03 pm

As part of planning what to do with my new garden I want to build some smaller poultry pens for breeding groups, the best places are smothered in ground covering ivy!

Question 1 is it safe for chooks?
Question 2 will chooks clear the ivy in time?
Question 3 I know ivy can taint milk in goats etc can it taint eggs or meat?

Thanks everyone!!!

Title: Re: chickens and ivy?
Post by: Mammyshaz on August 07, 2014, 06:27:34 pm

I believe ivy is poisonous to chooks. I cleared most of it around our chick enclosure but missed some tightly embedded in the greengage trees. The chooks haven't touched it but I will be removing it soon.

We lost one of our legbars yesterday. Escaped on Monday into our garden suddeNly off colour Tuesday and very pale, dead by Wednesday so I'm suspecting poisoning and am on a mission to clear all poisonous weeds in the enclosures. She may have eaten some pea or bean leaves or potato foliage in the veg area which are out of bounds but I'm being extra cautious and clearing what I can weed wise in their enclosures too. The crops will stay and  :fc: no more escapees will eat what they shouldn't. These two legbars have been so much trouble escape wise despite wing clipping  :rant:

Title: Re: chickens and ivy?
Post by: in the hills on August 08, 2014, 09:11:27 am

If they are in an enclosed run it might be different but my free rangers have all weeds and plants around them, including ivy, veggie plants, dock  etc all around them everyday ..... no poisoning. Think they usually know what is safe to eat .... think about chickens in any farmyard.  I suppose in a run they might be more inclined to pick at undesirable plants but in my experience they soon trample everything to oblivion in a fixed run in a very short time anyway.

Was horrified when I looked out to see that mine had once stripped all the rhubarb leaves .... thought they were bound to pop their clogs. They were fine. Read later that it is believed that chickens can use plants containing toxins to self-medicate. It noted rhubarb leaves as an example and said that they often gobbled them in spring when toxins were at low levels to self-medicate .... against internal parasites for example.

I think that in general they know what they should and shouldn't eat.