Chickens are highly intelligent creatures who love nothing better than free-range in the backyard.
While it is true that free-ranging is great for your flock of chickens, it is still vital that you pay heed to your chicken’s diet.
Just like other animals or humans, the more wholesome your chicken eats, the longer and healthier your chicken will be.
So, when faced with feeding chickens nutritional food, chicken owners often wonder
Can chickens eat chives?
Yes, it is safe for chickens to eat chives. Chives indeed belong to the Allium family, which also includes onions and leeks. And leeks contain a chemical compound by the name of organosulfides. When an animal chews on the plant, the chemical compound is converted into sulfur compounds that cause the animal’s red blood cells to break down.
But, a chicken would actually have to consume quite a bit of chive to suffer from any ill-effects of consuming chives.
Let’s take a deeper look into understanding how chives can be good for chickens.
Sound good?
Let’s get started!
Are Chives Good For Chickens?
Chives are an excellent source of calcium and potassium for chickens.
You can be sure that feeding your chickens chives will boost immunity and enhance the digestive system of your chickens.
As you might already know, calcium is a crucial element for your fowl’s well-being.
It is a nutrient that will help your chicken’s reproduction and egg-laying functioning.
Calcium in poultry means more robust bones, healthier muscle and nerve development, and better egg-shell quality.
On the other hand, potassium is vital for chickens.
A potassium deficiency in chickens can cause reduced egg production, egg weight, shell thickness, and albumen potassium content.
But, when it comes to chives, you should offer chicken chives more like a treat.
Chives shouldn’t be part of your chicken’s daily diet, even when you do present chives to your beloved pets, make sure that you provide only a meager amount of chives once in two or three months.
What Herbs Are Bad For Chickens?
Chives aren’t bad for your chicken, but you should practice caution in the number of chives you offer to your flock of chickens.
But, some herbs can do severe damage to poultry.
Let’s take a look at the list of herbs that you should keep well away from your chickens.
Aloe Vera
While aloe is superb for soothing skin burns and injuries, it would be best if you never considered making aloe a part of your chicken’s diet.
Aloe Vera can cause your chicken to suffer intense abdominal pains and diarrhea.
Comfrey
You might have heard that comfrey serves to benefit humans when used in a poultice to reduce inflammations or swellings.
But comfrey isn’t something many chicken owners will advise you to use for your chickens, mainly not being consumed by fowl.
Comfrey can result in diarrhea, liver failure and can cause liver cancer in extreme cases.
Eucalyptus
The plant itself is entirely non-toxic, but the leaves of eucalyptus can infect Aspergillus spores.
This dangerous fungus can mean death for many different species of birds, including birds.
Foxglove
Foxglove, also known as digitalis, can trigger heart failure in both animals and humans.
Henbane
The name of the herb suggests quite clearly that the herb is toxic for chickens.
If you don’t want your chickens to suffer from heart failure, coma, or most painful death, you need to keep them far, far away from henbane.
Horse Nettle
Horse nettle belongs to the Nightshade family.
And, as you must already know, members of the Nightshade family, such as tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers, aren’t strictly recommended for chickens.
Horse nettle can severely affect the central nervous system of chickens.
Monkshood/Wolfsbane
If ingested, wolfsbane can prompt heart palpitations, respiratory distress, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and even death.
Pennyroyal
Pennyroyal belongs to the mint family.
In general, members of the mint family are perfectly safe to ingest.
But, pennyroyal is quite toxic and can cause liver failure or even death.
Tansy
Tansy can cause liver damage, blindness, inability to swallow, diarrhea, and in severe cases, death.
Tea Tree
Tea tree is very popular as an essential oil with multiple health benefits such as antifungal, antimicrobial, and antibacterial properties.
But, your chickens can fall ill with vomiting, paralysis, seizures, unconsciousness, and even coma if they happen to ingest even a small quantity of tea tree.
What Vegetables Are Toxic For Chickens?
As mentioned earlier, members of the Nightshade family can be bad for chickens when consumed in large quantities or over a long duration.
Now, the Nightshade family has a lot of members, such as potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, aubergine, and belladonna.
The leaves and stems of the Nightshade family are particularly fatal for most animals.
And, nightshade can cause chickens to suffer from nervous system disorders.
The plant itself isn’t sufficiently poisonous, but parts contain a solanine toxin.
Plant species belonging to the Allium genus, such as onions, leeks, or garlic, can be toxic for chickens when consumed in large quantities.
These plants contain a chemical compound by the name of organosulfides that convert into sulfur compounds that will break down an animal’s red blood cells.
Avocado is a fruit, but it is just as dangerous for your chickens as feeding your beloved pet rat poison.
Are Onions Toxic To Chickens?
No, onions are not particularly toxic for chickens.
But, yes, it does consist of a toxin that, when consumed in large quantities, can endanger your chickens’ lives.
So, most chicken owners recommend not feeding any onions to your pet to err on the side of caution.
Wrapping Up
While chickens are remarkably sturdy creatures, there’s no denying that you need to be extra careful about your chicken’s diet.
If you’ve heard about the curiosity of cats.
Well, chickens are relatively curious animals that want to try everything out by putting it in their mouths and ingesting it.
So, while chickens can eat chives in meager amounts, you should take care that your chickens stay away from eating a lot of onions or garlic.
And, yes, don’t think about feeding your chickens an extra portion of potatoes or tomatoes and some herbs like aloe vera, horsenettle, or henbane.
