Poisonous Weeds to Chickens

Free-range chickens might be happier than cooped ones, but allowing them to graze at-will wherever their little feet take them can be hazardous to their health. Several weeds that naturally grow in many areas of the country are poisonous to chickens. It's wise to become acquainted with the ones that can make your birds sick and to remove them from your chickens' foraging area.

  1. A Long List

    • You wouldn't think that an animal who was originally wild would be sensitive to many plants that are found in nature, but the list of weeds that are poisonous to chickens is a long one. Some of the more common ones include morning glory, jimson weed, milkweed, inkweed, black locust, cocklebur and different types of hemlock. In the 2009 book "Raising Chickens for Dummies", Kimberly Willis and Rob Ludlow recommended that readers contact their veterinarian or local extension office for a comprehensive list of weeds that grow in their area of the country that pose a danger to chickens.

    Varying Toxicity

    • Different weeds have different levels of toxic effects on chickens. They could be considered anywhere from mildly toxic to poisonous or even deadly. Sometimes one part of a weed might not be harmful, like the leaf or the stem, but the seeds could be lethal. There are even cases where a weed might be poisonous during a particular stage of growth, but then it becomes harmless once it passes out of that stage.

    Different Chickens, Different Reactions

    • Although some weeds are known to be poisonous to chickens, some chickens may be able to tolerate eating them. Chickens do hunt and peck as part of their foraging activities, so it's likely that if you don't keep your chickens' yard completely free of weeds, they will eat a bit of a toxic weed from time to time. A very small amount of a weed on occasion probably wouldn't poison your chickens, but some chickens have better developed immunity to poisonous weeds than others do, even when they're in the same flock. Age can play a part, too. Grown chickens have a stronger constitution than chicks and won't be as susceptible to toxic weeds as the babies are.

    The Well-Fed Chicken

    • Chickens do like to forage, but they're naturally unlikely to eat a dangerous amount of toxic weeds. Making sure you feed your chickens a sufficient amount will help keep them from noshing on weeds or other items that could potentially be harmful. If a chicken has enough to eat, she won't be tempted to do much more than taste a few plants around the yard, just out of curiosity. But a chicken who is hungry is likely to eat anything she can find, including poisonous weeds.