Peas

[Anonymous]

Our 4 Lohmann Brown hens arrived last week. 10 weeks old and now, a week later, they have settled in. We love having them and should have done this years ago.
However, we are hanging greens in the run for them and I intended to throw them a few pea pods and hang the old pea plants from the allotment for them to peck at but I read that certain members of the pea family of plants are poisonous.
Edible peas were not specifically mentioned (sweet pea, laburnum etc were named)so can anyone throw any light on this?

Thanks.

Adam

 

[Davidd]

Hi, edible peas should be fine- my geese even eat my sweet peas through the fence and have never come to harm- laburnum is not good cabbage, cauli, brussels are all good- you will find they wil eat what they like and wont normally touch things that are not good.
regards, David

 

[Tallulah]

You have answered a question of mine too. I wondered if they instinctively know what is not good to eat. My chooks are contained in a big courtyard where our huge oak has been dropping juicy green leaves in the high winds we have had overnight - the girls have been eating some but not all of them which made me wonder if I should be clearing them up :!:

 

[Anonymous]

In our garden we have tomato plants and potatoes. I read somewhere the leaves of tomatoes and potato plants were poisonous to chickens. Our chickens pecked a few times at the leaves but didn't really eat them. So I guess they knew the leaves weren't good to eat.