Diet: Newbie questions on pellets and veggies

[Ly&Pigs]

Some onions aren't poisonous. I feed green onion tops, leek tops (only tops not bulb portion) to my girls with no ill effects.

I've also fed sweet potatoes to my girls on many occasions and know other slaves that do also.

[Rnd210]

That is good to know but aren't the green top part of the onions that you are descibing chives.

I do aggree that some parts of onions are ok but the bulb part is not.

[bpatters]

Chives and green onions are related, but are not the same thing. Chive tops are narrower and shorter than green onion tops, and they have a milder flavor.

[Peggysu]

You mean to tell me that I've been throwing away my leek tops when I could have given the piggies each a taste? I'll have to try this next time I cook with some.

[Ly&Pigs]

Chives can be fed too.

[Cogni]

Thanks for all the good info!
This is what I understand about the plants, since at least I know something there (but not much):
The onion family (the genus allium) includes garlic, shallots, onions, leeks, and chives. They all form bulbs of various dimensions, garlic, shallots and onions having the most bulbous shape. The bulbs are really underground shoots growing out of the roots, rather than roots per se. Onions come in a lot of different varieties with quite different appearances. Different varieties of garlic, leeks, etc. all look much more similar to each other within the same plant; I guess onions must have had very different wild forms before cultivation made them even more divergent.
In all allium plants the above-ground part of the shoots are green, spear-shaped and concentric, and if left, they eventually flower from the center of the plant.

Young onions that have not started to form their bulbs are called scallions, spring onions, or green onions, depending on where you come from. Sometimes the term 'green onion' is used for young onions that have formed small bulbs but have no brown paper cover yet. Chives are much smaller plants than onions and have tender green shoots that almost look like grass, which is why in German they are called 'grasslauch' literally 'grass leek'.
It seems that the piggies can eat the green above-ground parts of allium plants, but not the bulbs, which contain a lot of that pungent sulphurous stuff called allicin which is so great for humans. (Garlic contains loads of it). Allicin acts on our blood composition and circulation in a positive way. But piggies obviously don't work the same way. Such delicate little creatures!!