chickens and slug pellets

Hi has anyone got any info on the effects of slug pellets and chickens.

At present i dont use any, but my crops are being eaten alive.

 Am i safe to use 'green' ones in my garden as my chicken do have limited access to the beds when i have no crops growing.

I do feed slugs to the girls its very satisfying.

Thanks for any advice

Mmm. I use pellets and they work great on stopping slugs eating my plants. From what I have read the side effects of birds and animals eating poisoned slugs is negligible-they would have to eat 10K slugs a day to get the same toxicity. But I would factor in what you do with the chickens. If it is eggs only then no worries, eating them then I would be more weary.

My feeling is why take the risk no matter what sort of pellets you use-go after dark with a torch collect the slimey devils feed to chickens the next day.

The chickens are for eggs only and will never be for the table and yes my thoughts were the same about quantity of slugs that would need to be eaten. I do currently go out with a torch every night but with 3 kids my time is limited. The chicken squeel with delight and chase each other around the run when i hand over my hard work

Beet traps or traps made of molasses dissolved in warm water - slugs and snails will do aything for molasses - put it in yoghurt cartons or similar and sink them into the ground around the garden - in the morning take your cartons full of slugs to the chickens 

There is no way I would use slug pelllets in a garden that chickens have access to - and there is no way I would want to eat the eggs of a chicken that had had access to slugs killed be any sort of pellet - and I don't care how safe they are supposed to be - they kill slugs don't they ?

the odd slug like one or two a year killed on 'safe'pellets would probably be fine, but on a daily or regular basis, I would worry, The toxins in the pellets no matter how small, will be building up daily. And as it takes several days for a hen to produce an egg, I would avoid those too.  Why not use garlic granules around your veg/ornamental plants. Scattered around the base, slugs and snails will avoid the plants. Buy equine granules, by the kg works out cheaper than pellets too. so much safer.

I've been told that if you give too many slugs to chickens it gives them diarrhoea.

I like the garlic granules idea, ready seasoned veg!

Hello chicken keepers,

There are a range of chicken-safe ways of controlling slugs in our slug advice. Anything under the heading organic should be safe for chickens. Pippa uses nematodes to control hers (as well as feeding the slugs to the chickens).

Emma

gardenersworld.com team

Wow loads of good advice thanks guys. Rest assured i dont plan to use pellets in my garden but both my neighbours do, which i cant control. I really like the garlic idea too, and the molasses.

Try Diatomaceous Earth (Red mite powder that you probably have for your hens).  You can get it in buckets on the net much cheaper than chook supply stores

Yes i do have it, how much do you use for slugs