# why are onions a no no?



## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

Is it because they are toxic to chickens or just that it will flavor the eggs? I have some table scraps, cooked cabbage with onions peppers carrots and potatos with kielbasa I forgot to refrigerate last night. Would hate for it to go to waste but don't want to give them something that would hurt them.


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## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

bad breathe and they make you cry...duh. just use onion powder.


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

Raw or cooked, it's toxic:
http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/onion/


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

Another:
http://animals.mom.me/cooked-onion-toxic-pet-bird-1461.html


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

casportpony said:


> Raw or cooked, it's toxic:
> http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/onion/


Thanks!Into the trash it goes lol. I noticed the article also mentioned garlic, But I read all over of people giving their chickens crushed garlic.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

That's a shame, it would have been a wonderful meal. I wonder if the chickens know it's toxic? Will they eat it?


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

No, they don't eat eat them... Or at least very little. I get scraps from my neighbors, and often there are onions in there.... They are mostly avoided.


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

8hensalaying said:


> Thanks!Into the trash it goes lol. I noticed the article also mentioned garlic, But I read all over of people giving their chickens crushed garlic.


People do feed garlic, but they probably shouldn't.


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/foods-toxic-pet-birds/


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

http://bestbirdfoodever.com/home/wp...ng-parrots-never-feed-garlic-onions-or-leeks/


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## jn4 (Jun 21, 2012)

I totally do not agree. Lets cut out the HARVARD PHD. BS here.
A chicken is a back yard semi-domestic bird with a various carnivorous and vegetarian diet. A chicken isn't a pampered genetical DNA screwed up morph like somebodies Aunt Maxine's pink Poodle named Fi_Fi.

Not sure where this bogus TOXIC ONION crap comes from but if it were true then NO CHICKEN would have survived the great Depression nor a single chicken be found among all the farm lands of the United States today outside of Corporate chicken houses.

While "most" do not like RAW onions,..they seem to snatch up cooked onions with delight...all to no Ill affect.

This is one of the things that get me today,..all the New Age BS about homesteading and BackYard birds and such,..written by armchair Yuppies who only last month learned that eggs actually come from a CHICKEN and not the Grocery Store...

A Healthy Country Raised Chicken will Eat Just About Anything except a Bumble Bee or a Southern Fire Ant.

Basically , if you can eat it so can a Chicken

A chicken is like a little kid...it needs to experience NATURE in all its glory...not picked up and ran to the infirmity for a good dowsing of anti-bacterial/anti fungal soap. 
Stop and think for a minute if you will,..does anyone actually think their Grand Mother or GGM, who,out on the Farm,..went to any special observances to raise the families farm birds?

There is a Divide these days between folks who believe they can augment nature and those who let nature be......I'm sure from most of my posts that you can see I am of the latter....

Off the ranting soap box now.


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

While I don't worry about my birds getting into the garden and eating garlic, apple seeds, tomato leaves, onions, the avocado bush or the rhubarb, etc, these are not items that I will feed to them on purpose.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I certainly agree with a lot of what jn3 is saying. I never see well fed animals eat bad vegetation. However, two of mine shared a 2 day old dead mouse and died overnight. No poison involved. 

But there are people out there that think of their chickens like hot house flowers. Like Kathy, I don't intentionally give my chickens no-nos , there are probably bad things growing in my yard, but some weeds get bigger and bigger because no one is eating it

I tend to worry less about those who walk by fresh water to drink out of a dirty puddle..

It's unfortunate that when one searches the net for info, there are probably very few if any that say stop coddling and throw your leftovers out there and don't worry about the onions. But hundreds of results that say " OMG DON'T GIVE THEM ONIONS YOU'LL KILL THEM AND IT WILL BE ALL YOUR FAULT THAT YOU KILLED YOUR CHICKENS WITH ONIONS"


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

casportpony said:


> http://bestbirdfoodever.com/home/wp...ng-parrots-never-feed-garlic-onions-or-leeks/


Kathy you're responses remind me of when I precepted in nursing. Sometimes an orientee would ask me a question and there was what I would do, but to teach, the info had to be by the book.


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

Who knows how toxic any of this stuff really is? I thought for sure my ducks were gonna start dropping dead after eating an entire rhubarb, but they didn't, lol.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Generally, chickens instinctively know what's good to eat and what's not good to eat. However over the years I've seen them eat things that I knew were poisonous or could cause harm, yet they survived....albeit they looked liked crap for a couple of days afterwards (toads, purple/blue striped skinks and wisteria come to mind.)
Since they are under my control; it's my responsibility to ensure their safety, health and welfare...but I'm not going to babysit them all day neither.


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## jn4 (Jun 21, 2012)

Want to know how nasty Chickens can be?
Lots of Farmers with cows let their chicken free range behind the cows as they move about....Haahaaa well guess what the chicken go scratching into and peck at to get bugs and other tasty...uhm-aahhh morsels. YEP cow patties!
Chickens will also eat other chickens feces to get the undigested leftovers 

Yeah I wouldn't worry too much


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## jn4 (Jun 21, 2012)

There are two types of folks who keep chickens....those who keep them barnyard style and see them as they are...a beneficial and essential component to the "Farming Eco-System" and a delicious choice for Sunday lunch.

And other folks who keep them as a hobby..pets! And as such they are treated very well even pampered. And there is nothing wrong with that!

We have a couple cats here that their parents started out as expert mousers...that was their job... But now these latest cats have transformed to become family members it seems. They have each their own food and water bowls that are washed and sanitized daily and placed on their own special little matts. They have their own little kitty cozy beds they sleep in.....they go to their doctors more than we go to ours.. 
So yes I understand the second type bird keepers. 

I have seen them go to great expense to build them elaborate chicken condos ,..mobile tractors...highest quality $$$$ feed climate control and on and on....the birds are happy it seems....no problem.
I started out many years back with just a few chicks who were treated just the same way....they were happy well fed and generally nice looking fat birds.....then I started letting them out...things changed. No longer did they want the nicely painted and heated coop house,...or the feeds I bought. They wanted to dig...scratch.....root up plants...chase bugs..squawk and attempt to fly around some....and they did not want to go back into the coop/pen area...
Some preferred to roost in the peach trees. 
I was shocked but shouldn't have been...they were doing what they naturally and instinctively knew to do.

Every body here wants the best for their flocks....we tend to go overboard at times...but its all well intended and each person learns more and more as they walk down that pathway.
Sometimes I tend to give short answers and tactless responses to questions that seem so obvious...to me anyway.
I don't mean to be gruff or insulting to anyone...and hope I haven't.

To sum it up I'd say if you want to go the extra mile for your birds,..hey go for it! But as with anything else don't be se quick to take advice from so called "experts" in white lab coats making outrageous claims. Use your good old common sense and some deductive reasoning..... You and your animals will be much much happier. 

Peace


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

We are kind of halfway between. I grew up spending alot of time on my grandparents farm, we knew the animals were there for a reason and most of that reason was food. We named them, played with them when they were babies, but never lost sight of that reality. When we decided to get the hens I explained to Katie that we were mainly doing this for eggs, and that chickens don't lay their whole lives, so what do we do when they stop laying. Her answer, We eat them, and get more. So we keep reminding her of that. I have decided that hers (the easter eggers) will be true pets, and we won't eat those. The rest are fair game. Some one said, (either here or another board I can't remember who) That her goal was, that her birds lived full, healthy, happy, lives with only 1 bad day...I kind of like that thought. It is up to us to make sure that 1 bad day, or moment passes as quickly and humanely as possible. So if it is possible to straddle that fence of livestock and pets, I am trying my best to maintains a balanced view.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I agree. No matter what you do, considering the alternative, it's better to have a wonderful chicken life outdoors, and humanely become dinner. I figure that people who didn't care about their chickens, meat or pet, would not be on forums. 

It's also a sad reality (to me) that roosters are mostly unwanted, and I guess it's the best way to care for excess roosters is to have them happy and use them for food. I tried keeping them all and ended up having to build 7 pens and give them girls. I can't do it. So instead I hatched some silkies who have a better chance of not killing eachother. Those unruly ones will have to live with the big retired girls who won't put up with them. So I'll do what I've done before, remove them one by one based on who won't play fair.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

jn4 writes about how she may sound gruff, short, tactless, or insulting. There are no gestures or intonation on posts. Sometimes it's very hard to figure out if a person is being mean or attacking or matter of fact. I normally assume that people mean well, unless they attack someone personally. 

I love arguments, LOL, unless someone attacks someone else's mental status instead of arguing about the subject.


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

I didn't take the post as rude or tactless. I took it as what we refer to in our family as wysiwyg pronounced wiseewig. What you see is what you get lol. I like people that speak their mind, and certainly don't mind healthy debate as long as it does not turn insulting or personal. It's all good


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

I prefer it when people speak their mind... can't stand the beating around the bush junk, or people trying not to hurt my feelings.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

8hensalaying said:


> I didn't take the post as rude or tactless. I took it as what we refer to in our family as wysiwyg pronounced wiseewig. What you see is what you get lol. I like people that speak their mind, and certainly don't mind healthy debate as long as it does not turn insulting or personal. It's all good


Healthy debate? How bout no spitting but hair pulling is okay


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

seminolewind said:


> Healthy debate? How bout no spitting but hair pulling is okay


Depends on if you are the pullee or the puller I guess lol!


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## jn4 (Jun 21, 2012)

Screw that...I'm cutting my hair


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## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

jn4 said:


> Want to know how nasty Chickens can be?
> Lots of Farmers with cows let their chicken free range behind the cows as they move about....Haahaaa well guess what the chicken go scratching into and peck at to get bugs and other tasty...uhm-aahhh morsels. YEP cow patties!
> Chickens will also eat other chickens feces to get the undigested leftovers


i have watched a chicken spread a cow patty apart into about a 3 foot circle to get out all the little chunks of corn and whatever else. now that's top shelf entertainment!


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

rosco47 said:


> i have watched a chicken spread a cow patty apart into about a 3 foot circle to get out all the little chunks of corn and whatever else. now that's top shelf entertainment!


Mine will follow my horses waiting for them to poop. Very funny to watch.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Chickens will also eat worms in feces from horses, cows or other animals. Extra protein mmmmmmmmm!


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

dawg53 said:


> Chickens will also eat worms in feces from horses, cows or other animals. Extra protein mmmmmmmmm!


Mine are going after the undigested grains!


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Mine emptied my glass of diet coke. I did not join in.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Ya'll are hilarious! I personally feel that they won't eat something that sense is not good or harmful to them. I've thrown onions out and they just kick them around, same with citrus or other stuff. They scratch around manure piles and other not so pleasant stuff.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I divy up the left overs for each group. Later, if some group turned their nose up at it, I pick it up and give it to the next.

MY Mariska has also become a pest about drinking my coffee or soda. Wait till next week when she tries beer!


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