this may be one of the most important topic weve written in poultry nutrition , it’s a topic that we have received alot of request to discuss it in our fb community especially after the overwhelming success of the article : can chickens eat tomatoes , in which we discussed some of the untapped effect of tomatoes on overall health and productivity
my chickens like to eat potatoes however is it safe to give them it’s plant part leaves vines stems sprouted potatoes ..etc
its one of the most controverial topic what make it controvertial is the amount of based scientific evidence that every team posses.
some believes that potatoes are poisonous and it’s a bad call to give them this vegetables and that’s not only for the well known reason potatoes contain solanin we stress that any green skin potatoes is harmful , which is one of most notorious poisonous compound whenever it comes to pet nutrition in general , every pet owner have every right to be afraid to give any veg that contain this harmful compound due to its fatal effect that can lead to death..
apart from solanin how potatoes can negatively affect their overall health and productivity in some cases is mind blowing.
on the other side they believe that whoever is saying that you shouldn’t feed your chickens potatoes are exgaretting potatoes is among the most best vegetables you can offer to your chickens i mean just take a quick look on it’s nutrition profile and you realise that your infront of the most nutritious veg whether russet known as idaho or any other cultivation , focus on giving red potatoes as they more nutritious than yellow or white more of vitamins and mineral density and macronutrient ballance.
yams and sweet potatoes are also nutritiously superrior to regular potatoes.
your chicken will benefit from every single nutrient found in potatoes what’s more important its safe and delicious i always give my chickens the leftover whenever i cook potatoes for my kids whether baked boiled instant mashed roasted even raw potatoes is tottaly safe if you wash the peelings and remove all rotten part
potatoes is a good source of many nutrient such as carbohydrates vitamin and some minerals
starting with carbohydrate which is the most nutrient present in potatoes carbhydrates are in form of starch resistance starch type 1 in particular and fiber
there are some details that we should be aware of before feeding this nutritious veg to your flock
potatoes contain choline which is among the most important compound for poultry as it hase crucial roles in protecting poultry liver , choline is a compound that hepl to metabolize fat in the liver which prevent the accomplation of fat on this vital organ good fat metabolizm prevent chickens from developing fatty liver
especcialy if we knew that chickens can develop fatty liver from execcive calories intake , eposure to some mycotoxins
it’s also good compound for the nervous system and growth as the deficiency can cause stunned growth
frozen or dehydrated,and freze dried deliver the same exact nutrient profile as fresh potatoes however we recommand to give only fresh vegetables.
actually uncooked potatoes is more beneficial as cooking can decreases some nutrient content not such as potassium and all water soluble vitamins we also recommend that you dont offer any seasoned or fried food
the most prominent nutrient in potatoes are carbohydrates
the strarch in potatoes are resistant starch this type is a good source of energy for the gut bacteria which improve it’s overall performance.
poultry metabolize starch into some short chain fatty acid that prevent the infllamation in the digestive system.