tomato plant leaves

Are tomato plant leaves safe for quail to eat?????? as the rabbit loves them.

Tomatoes belong to the rather variable Solanum genus, which also includes potatoes and aubergines. These belong to the Solanacaeae family, some of which are famous for their poison (i.e. nightshade!)

They basically contain a wide variety of alkaloids which can be beneficial/desirable to down right toxic. Many of these evolved toxins in their foliage to prevent the plant from being eaten. The fruits on the other hand seem to be designed specifically to be eaten (spread seeds). Some animals seem to be immune, others are badly affected by the plant toxins. Most animals seem to avoid the plant altogether (it emits a strong smell, perhaps a warning). My ducks don't seem to touch it when I let them loose in my garden... they prefer to eat bindweed and grass, which is fine by me.

I personally wouldn't feed the leaves to my birds (or indeed anything else, even my composting worms don't like it either). However, I eat copious amounts of tomato fruits as it's suppose to be good for the skin (to prevent wrinkles and damage from the sun).

here is a fun and informative web site about tomatoes... tomatoesareevil.com

by the way, pretty much everything we eat has some level of toxins. Plants have been raging chemical warfare against animals since the first newt ate a McDonalds' salad