Things You Shouldn’t Feed Your Chickens
This post may contain affiliate links. View our disclosure.
Apr 24, 2015 Can Horses Eat Peanut Butter or Sunflower Seed Butter? I'm toying with the idea of making no bake horse treats for my horse with his supplements put in (MSM joint supplement, possible selenium as well). I am moving him to a barn with 24/7 turn out which will be great for his hocks (they are fusing) however I need to ensure that he is getting. I gave these horses some peanut butter and this is what happened.
Chickens will eat just about anything you give them, but there are some things that aren’t good for them. Here’s a list of things that you shouldn’t feed your chickens:
Green or sprouted potatoes – They contain a toxin called Solanine, which affects the nervous system (it’s bad for both birds and people). The leaves and stems also have the toxin, so try to keep them off of your potato plants. Sweet potatoes are a different matter all together, and can be given to your chickens without worry.
Tomato, pepper and eggplant leaves As members of the nightshade family, they contain Solanine, just like potatoes, so you should try to keep your chickens off your plants. They can, however, eat tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.
Avocadoes – The pits and skins contain the toxin Persin, which can be fatal to chickens. The fleshy part is safe to give them in moderation.
Citrus Fruits – Some say it will slow egg production down; others say it can cause diarrhea; still others say it’s A-okay. Proceed at your own risk.
Chocolate – It contains Theobromine, which is toxic to birds and many other pets.
Dry/uncooked beans – Uncooked beans contain a toxin called Hemaglutin, which is bad news for birds and people, too.
Raw eggs – Once your chickens discover how tasty eggs are, they may start eating them right out of their nest boxes. If you’d like to feed your chickens eggs (they are a great source of protein, after all), just scramble them first.
Onions, chives and garlic – A little bit is fine, but if they eat too much, it may affect the flavor of their eggs; and it could cause them to develop Heinz Anemia.
Rhubarb leaves– They contain Oxalic Acid, which can cause calcium deficiency. Prolonged exposure can lead to kidney failure.
Really salty foods Some salt is okay, but too much can be deadly. Avoid giving them heavily-salted foods, and you should be fine.
Rotten food – Feeding them over-ripe fruits and veggies is fine, but don’t give them anything that’s moldy or rotten. If you wouldn’t eat it, they shouldn’t eat it either.
Raw meat – It can carry parasites and diseases. Some feel it can also lead to aggressive behavior and cannibalism in the flock.
Processed foods – Junk food isn’t good for you, and it isn’t good for your feathered friends either.
Greasy foods – They’re difficult for them to digest.
Dairy – Chickens aren’t able to digest lactose, so it’s best to skip it. If you’re looking for a good calcium source for your chickens, try crushed up egg shells or oyster shells.
Grass clipping and pulled weeds – Eating pieces that are too big can lead to an impacted crop, so it’s best to let them forage for themselves.
Raw peanuts – As a member of the legume family, they contain a trypsin inhibitor (trypsin is an enzyme that the pancreas makes to help the intestines absorb protein). Because of this, raw peanuts are known to be bad for squirrels and other small animals, and some birds can’t eat them either. Opinions are mixed as to whether they’re okay for chickens.
It's nice to treat your horse to special foods sometimes. However, there are a few things they probably shouldn't eat. What shouldn't you feed your horse? Here is a list of the foods that probably shouldn't be included in your horse's diet.
Fruit in Large Quantities
Many of us like to feed our horses apples for treats. But sometimes fruits can become too much of a good thing. A belly full of apples or any other fruit can easily cause colic and may lead to founder. You probably may not feed your horse more than one or two pieces of fruit. The danger is when horses have access to windfall fruit from a wild tree, or someone dumps a basket of spoiled apple over the fence thinking they’re giving the horse a ‘treat.’
Lawn and Garden Clippings
Lawn and garden clippings can contain several hazards. Clippings can contain toxic plants and there are several common garden plants, like lily of the valley and rhubarb leaves, that fall into this category. Some weeds are toxic. What gets sprayed on lawns and gardens to control pests and weeds may be toxic too, even if it was sprayed a long time ago. Just-cut or semi-wilted plant material can be a problem in itself, even if it appears to contain nothing but grass. Because horses don’t have to graze and chew the material for themselves, they may bolt the food and fill up on it much faster. This can lead to choke and colic. The sugars in freshly cut or slightly wilted clippings can cause an imbalance in the horse’s gut, leading to laminitis. Put lawn and garden waste into your composter or manure pile, not over the fence into your horse’s pasture.
Meat
Deadly Equines, The Shocking True Story of Meat-Eating & Murderous Horses by CuChullaine O'Reilly, the Founder of the Long Riders' Guild explores the fact that horses can and do eat meat (and can appear to behave in quite a violent manner to get it). However, that they can and do eat meat does not mean that they should. A horse may be trained to eat meat, or it may be driven to it by need. This doesn’t mean that a regular diet of meat in the long-term is a good thing. Your horse may like an occasional bite of your hamburger or tuna sandwich and can eat it without harm. However, since we don’t know the long-term effects on most horses, a diet high in meat would be inadvisable (along with expensive). Horses have the teeth and digestive system of a highly specialized herbivore. Few of us are going to take our horses on Antarctic expeditions and our horses will likely be healthiest eating the diet their digestive system evolved to digest.
Cruciferous Vegetables
You may already know someone who gets uncomfortable after they eat cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts or other vegetables in the cabbage family. Your horse may feel the same type of discomfort after eating ‘gassy’ vegetables like these. A few leaves or sprouts may not matter, but dumping the old plants over the fence probably isn’t a great idea.
Moldy or Dusty Hay
If good pasture is not available, good-quality hay is the next-best choice. However, never feed your horse dusty or moldy hay. To do so could damage its lungs. Here’s why it’s not okay to feed hay that’s only a bit dusty or has a bit of mold in it.
Bran Mashes
Many people may be surprised to learn that bran mashes are not recommended. Horses eat a lot of fiber in their normal diet, so adding bran can actually affect the gut flora. Bran has little nutrition, so there are much better things to feed a horse than bran or bran mashes.
Alsike Clover
Eating alsike clover may cause a very nasty sunburn, sores in the mouth and cause problems like colic and diarrhea and ‘big liver syndrome’. Alsike clover is common in pastures. It can grow up to 30 inches high (76 cm) and in addition to its clover-shaped leaves has a round flower head of pretty pink. You can tell it apart from red clover because it doesn’t have the distinctive white ‘V’ on the leaves that other clovers do. If your horse snaps up a few stalks of alsike clover occasionally, it’s probably okay, but prolonged consumption or a large amount at once may cause problems.
Cattle Feed
Cattle feed contains supplements that are good for cattle but are very toxic to horses. Drugs like rumencin are routinely added to cattle feed. These drugs can be deadly for horses. This is why it's a good idea to buy feed from mills that specialize exclusively in making horse feeds.
Silage and Haylage
Feeding haylage (sometimes called baleage) and silage to horses is more common in the UK and Europe than it is in North America. Feeding silage and haylage to horses can be tricky. There are some definite benefits to feeding these fodders, like higher nutritional value and low dust. But the manner in which the hay is cut and baled can lead to the risk of botulism poisoning. Horses are very sensitive to botulism and being infected can lead to paralysis and death. Because the hay is baled at a high moisture content and is wrapped in plastic it is the ideal environment for botulism to grow. Soil carrying botulism, poultry manure, small animals and birds can be baled into the hay, contributing to the growth of the bacteria.
The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs recommends against feeding haylage and silage to horses. A vaccine is available, but it only protects against one of the five types of botulism. Care has to be taken that uneaten silage or haylage is cleaned up. There is a possibility that frozen silage can lead to colic, and we don’t yet understand if there are long-term effects of feeding acidic (and treated or conditioned hay) fodders to horses.