We lost 15 chickens in the fall from rotten cantaloupes so a few days ago the wife cleaned out her pumpkin patch. So I asked her what she did with the rotten ones? Turns out she tossed the rotten pumpkins in the burn pile where the chickens can get to them, the pumpkin patch is fenced off. So guess what happened today yep chickens dropping like flies we lost 7 so far today.

It’s wet and windy today so I got the burn pile burning with the help of a couple gallons of gas, I had skunk carcasses to burn anyways since they have acetone in most of them and them leg worms need to be gone. Will see how tomorrow goes.

Told the wife we are a no squash zone this year!

What kills the birds?

Toxic would be my guess it don’t take much to kill a chicken, had they been fresh there would be no problem.

I never knew that. After watching chickens clean up a beaver carcass, I figured they had stomachs like a billy goat.

Same. Watched them chase each other around fighting over a half decomposed mouse the other day. Have to be more careful.

Man, I grew up throwing every scrap imaginable to the chickens and never noticed any die from it. Maybe we just never tried rotten raw squash or melons.

Same here,never ever lost a chicken to feed scraps......only things i ever lost chickens to was my knife. Fed squash,,melons,etc. Just no idea if i fed molded...im guessing your were moldy.

Sounds like aflatoxin poisoning. Caused by naturally offering Aspergillus fungi. Careful as this stuff can kill mammals like us. Several years back a well known brand of dog food killed hounds from a bad batch of corn infected with aspergillus. And not just ingested as the spores can be spread by air so it can be inhaled as well.
It also infects insects, in honey bees it is the cause of stonebrood.

BTW birds are especially sensitive to aflatoxin. Many cases over the years of wild turkey dying from moldy corn.

It must be a yankee chicken thing.. my redneck chickens must be scrappy things.lol


..ive throwed everything but the kitchen sink in to mine and I aint never had chickens die in mass volume...

Including rotten squash amd melons..beaver..coon..amd rat carcasses.

The only thing theyve ever snubbed was an otter carcass.lol

Thanks for the info Warrior.

The issues is it’s rotten because it was being fenced off and allowed to become toxic is the reason or it would of been gone before if they could of got to it when it was fresh. The same thing last time a cantaloupe in a fenced area that they got to killed them before. I was not happy with the burn pile plan but it was already done and it was to dry to burn yesterday.

Chickens are rough on garden veggies if they have access to it. They'll eat everything they can reach.

me too cathryn,,for 50 yrs

i have had geese die of botulism......in my game fish parks office in huron they got it off an algae bloom.

X3

The burn pile was super hot with the wind blowing on it I shoveled everything garden into the heat I’ll check it again in the morning and see if I lose any more by then the last time it went on for a few days.

I was thinking mold too

Why wouldn't it be added to the compost bins or pile?