How poisonous is rhubarb?

[Anonymous]

How much rhubard does a Pekin have to consume to be detrimental to it's health?
I'm having a devil of a time keeping one of my Pekins off the rhubarb - she just absolutely loves the suff. Each barrier I errect I think will be the last and that she'll never ger through it, but today she did and was ripping huge chunks out of the leaves with great relish.
It is safest just to dig it up and get rid of it?
I thought they were supposed to ignore things that didn't agree with them?

 

[snifter]

The leaves are toxic. It would take a vast amount to kill a person but could leave someone feeling sick or being ill.

I'd advise to keep your chook away from it as she is far smaller and its better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Snifter,
I think I'll dig it up and get it out of her way.

 

[Tim]

Yes, it is a funny one. It is something my chooks have never touched and was on my list of chicken compatible plants.... then one day I got home to find all of it stripped bare of leaves.

They were all fine and there were no noticable problems - it appears they liked it when it had new leaves at the begining of the season but don't touch it later on... Now I'm wondering how smart chooks really are because you're not supposed to pick Rhubarb after May (ish?) time because the poisonous chemical is stronger as the season goes on - so maybe they eat the leaves when the plants are young in the same way we eat the stems in the early part of the season.??

Who knows but I know the leaves are certainly poisonous to us and I would cover well or dig up to avoid them eating it as suggested.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is a funny one. It is something my chooks have never touched and was on my list of chicken compatible plants.... then one day I got home to find all of it stripped bare of leaves.

They were all fine and there were no noticable problems - it appears they liked it when it had new leaves at the begining of the season but don't touch it later on... Now I'm wondering how smart chooks really are because you're not supposed to pick Rhubarb after May (ish?) time because the poisonous chemical is stronger as the season goes on - so maybe they eat the leaves when the plants are young in the same way we eat the stems in the early part of the season.??

Who knows but I know the leaves are certainly poisonous to us and I would cover well or dig up to avoid them eating it as suggested.

Yep i have found the same thing happened with my marans,light sussex (LF) etc when i let them out to roam about the garden. They stripped the young rhubarb leaves bare. But left the stalks for me to eat :lol: They didn't seem to suffer any side affects at all. But like tim says they seem to leave the older leaves untouched.

John