Can Chickens Eat Tomatoes?

So, can chickens eat tomatoes? Chickens don’t like tomatoes; they absolutely LOVE them! Sliced, diced, whole, cooked, or raw, there are few things that will excite your flock more than the appearance of juicy ripe tomatoes. And besides being delicious, tomatoes are also packed with antioxidants, fiber, potassium, and essential vitamins that will keep your chickens in top-notch condition.

But before you turn your chickens loose in your vegetable patch, there is one downside. Not every part of the tomato plant is as nutritious as the fruit. Tomatoes are one of those plants that have a shady side to their personality. Although toxins in the plant probably won’t have much effect on humans, it’s quite a different matter for our small chicken friends.

Can Chickens Eat Tomatoes?

When it comes to whether chicken chickens can eat tomatoes, the answer is a big yes and also a hard no. Let’s go through the yes part first.

Ripe tomatoes are a great addition to your chicken’s staple feed. They should never replace chicken food – especially because cleaning the coop after a tomato-feeding fiesta would be a total horror story – but these tasty fruits have loads of health benefits for humans and chickens. When fed in moderation along with chicken food, tomatoes are an excellent, safe, healthy chicken snack.

The flip side is that every other part of a tomato plant is toxic to chickens. Technically the green leaves and stems are also toxic to humans, but the concentration of the culprit, tomatine, is so low that a human would need to eat more than a pound of bitter-tasting tomato leaves to feel any effect.

Tomatine which is present in the green parts of tomatoes, is frequently confused with a different plant toxin called solanine. The latter is why you and your chickens should avoid eating green potatoes – there is a small amount in tomato leaves too, but it’s not as significant as tomatine. Both of these compounds occur to protect plants from fungi, so in effect, they are natural anti-microbial agents.

But back to chickens, tomatoes, and the toxin tomatine. Some animals are more susceptible to the adverse effects of this compound than others, and that includes your chickens and, interestingly, also dogs. Fortunately, the chances of any animals making a bee-line to munch your tomato greens are pretty low!

So yes, you can and should give your chickens tomatoes to eat whenever you have them available – they will enjoy it. Just avoid giving them any green sections of tomato plants.

Can Chickens Eat Tomato Leaves And Stems?

Chickens should not be given tomato plant stems, leaves, or underdeveloped green fruit. All the green parts of tomato plants are toxic to chickens – and most other animals too.

Interestingly, tomato plants are family of the nightshade family of plants. You have probably heard the term ‘deadly nightshade,’ and the tomato plants are notable members of this rather dubious family tree.

Nightshade plants contain small amounts of alkaloids – in the case of tomatoes, the two chemical compounds are tomatine and solanine. Fortunately, as the fruit matures and ripens, the amount of alkaloids in the juicy edible part decreases. It is, therefore, perfectly safe for you and your chickens to eat as many tomato sandwiches and salads as you want without getting sick.

Can Chickens Eat Tomato Plants?

Chickens instinctively know what they can and shouldn’t eat. It is, therefore, unlikely that free-ranging chickens will target the green parts of the tomato plants in your veggie patch. They will quickly zero in on any tomato fruit, and their enthusiastic roughhousing may destroy the delicate plants, but when they are given a choice, chickens rarely get it wrong.

The problem occurs when tomato greens have been chopped up or presented in a form that is not recognizable to your flock. They also may become less choosy if they are confined in a coop and don’t have a lot of alternative munchies.

Another place to monitor is your compost pile. Chickens love scratching through compost in search of yummy bugs and tasty snacks. Tomato plant clippings from your veggie garden should be disposed of elsewhere if your chickens have access to the compost.

Can Chickens Eat Tomato Seeds and Peel?

You can safely give your chickens any part of ripe tomato fruit. If you would be willing to eat it, it is safe for your flock. There is no need to remove tomato seeds (unless you want to plant them) before giving them to chickens. They will make short work of the juicy insides!

Tomatoes can be served to your chickens whole or chopped up. If you have a lot of dominant bully birds in your flock, it is better to chop the tomatoes up so that even the lower-ranking birds can dash in to snatch a few beak-fulls of the tasty snack.

Can Chickens Taste?

Most chicken owners are amazed at how quickly their birds can consume a bucket of kitchen scraps. The coop immediately becomes a frenzy of activity. The moment one bird finds a particularly tasty morsel, the speed at which it makes off with its prize (usually hotly pursued by a couple of jealous flock mates) rivals the Olympic 100m sprint event.

You may have wondered if chickens are able to taste specific foods like tomatoes or if they are operating on an intuitive texture-based system as they dash in to grab treats. After all, chicken feed doesn’t look terribly appetizing to the average human!

Research published by the National Library of Medicine found that chickens have a better-developed taste organ than previously thought. Chickens’ taste buds mature even before they hatch, although they are not as well developed as mammals. Although chickens seem to lack the taste receptor for ‘sweet’ food, the study showed they respond to the other four taste qualities: bitter, umami, sour and salty.

Luckily, even though research has shown that chickens do taste food, they don’t seem to be picky eaters. Next time you stop by your chicken coop with a bucket of kitchen treats, know that your birds are enjoying, and tasting, every morsel.

Can I Feed My Chickens Salsa?

Small amounts of leftover tomato salsa are perfectly safe to add to the kitchen scraps bucket destined for the chicken coop. The main ingredient of salsa is tomato which is a healthy chicken menu item. However, like all snacks, salsa should be given to chickens in moderation.

Salsa is made of quite a few ingredients, including strong ingredients like garlic and onion. If you feed your hens too much of the delicious tomato sauce, these tastes could taint the flavor of their eggs. In addition, salsa often contains a lot of salt, and it is always better to avoid giving your chickens salty scraps.

What Should I Do If My Chickens Eat Tomato Leaves?

If your chickens have had a few pecks on your tomato plants, there is probably no need for concern. One or two bites of the bitter leaves is usually enough to keep them moving on in search of tastier plants.

If you know your chickens have eaten more than a few bites, you should contact your veterinarian immediately. Symptoms of tomato plant poisoning are:

• Extremely runny poop
• Lethargy
• Neurological changes, for example, lack of coordination.

What Happens If My Chickens Eat Too Many Tomatoes?

Ripe tomatoes are a healthy addition to a chicken’s staple diet. However, too many tomatoes, just like bananas and other fruits, can cause chicken diarrhea which will be uncomfortable and messy for your birds and even worse for the person cleaning the coop!

Chicken diarrhea can be a serious condition as the balance between good and bad bacteria in the gut is out of sync. In severe cases that are left untreated, digestive upsets can be fatal.

If you have a successful tomato harvest from your veggie garden, try to spread the bounty over a few days or weeks. Luckily chickens never complain about getting the same daily treats, and they will always be excited to see ripe tomatoes on the menu.