hellojill
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Hicks or Hicksii Yew Poisonous Berries

We have several hicks yew planted in our backyard, at least 10 of them. We also have chickens that are new this season that we let roam and I am concerned about the toxicity of the berry seeds as they are just starting to show up. My understanding is that the seeds have to be chewed in order to release the poison, and as the chickens do not "chew" their food, would they be okay ingesting the berries? Or do we need to keep the chickens in their coop as to avoid contact with the berries?

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!potatoes!
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Location: wnc - zones 6/7 line

chickens do chew food - they just do it with an internal organ, the gizzard. if the toxicity is an issue, I'd keep them penned.

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rainbowgardener
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Location: TN/GA 7b

I found this:
Birds are also attracted to the fruit, which they eat without consequence, as the flesh is not toxic to most, and the seed passes through intact.
https://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/p ... hicks-yew/
Ingestion and subsequent excretion by birds whose beaks and digestive systems do not break down the seed's coating are the primary means of yew dispersal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxus_baccata

The wiki article has lots of fascinating yew lore.

Chickens being birds, they are probably ok....



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