is dried fruit ok to feed?

is it ok to feed dried fruit to chicks and pullets? like prunes and dried apricots. i have some left over from making granola.

I don't see why not but watch the sugar content though; if it's "no sugar added" I'm sure it's fine.

In small amounts yes. If they have any sugar added though I would caution against too much overall and too much at once. Drying the fruit already concentrates the sugar and then usually sugars are added on top of that making store bought dried fruit actually quite unhealthy for humans and animals. Home dried fruit generally doesn't have as much if any sugar added so wouldn't be as bad.

First of all they have to much sugar in them. And second parts of an apricots are toxic and should not be feed tp your chickens.
I'll find the list and give you the link.

Here is a link to a list of foods not to feed your chickens. It's a good idea to bookmark this page for future reference.
http://www.poultryhelp.com/toxicplants.html

The apricot pit and other parts of the plant can be toxic. Not real toxic though. Like apple seeds they contain a compound that can be converted to cyanide by the body. However when explaining the toxicity of such things to me a vet used the example that a horse would have to eat a truck load of apples with seeds or a 5gallon bucket of just seeds to reach toxic effects. Yes there is the potential to be toxic but odds are you and no animal you have will ever eat enough to reach those effects.

2nd thing is if these are dried fruit then the pit has been removed. Apricot fruit is not toxic to anything. It's perfectly safe to eat. The sugar content is the only reason to restrict the amount.

Quote:
Yes I know it takes a lot of the seeds to be toxic and I did mention that parts were toxic. Also they are not horses but chickens. And that it was something to avoid feeding to her chickens. The list I gave was for everyone if they had questions on toxic plants. I was not trying to play the roll of a toxicologist.
Plus my answer wasn't directed to you Mr. Vet.

You don't need to get touchy. You claimed the apricots should not be fed because they are toxic. She's not feeding anything toxic. Chickens handle toxins better than horses if anything. Horses have very sensitive digestive tracts and end up with laminitis or colic at rather low doses compared to their body weight. Whenever the topic of toxic plants comes up it tends to get blown off around here unless someone is concerned about a plant in a pen where the chickens won't have much else to eat. Chickens don't seem to show toxic effects too easily. Even if we scale things down for their size they'd have to eat a lot to get sick. I don't even worry about guinea pigs getting a hold of pits and seeds in fruit because they aren't going to eat enough unless I give it to them daily. They are more likely to die from choking on it than from toxic substances. The fact some seeds contain a compound that can turn into cyanide is a neat trivia fact that has been blown out of proportion. It's not something that needs to be worried about in most cases. There are a few exceptions that need to be kept in mind such as if the animals have direct access to the trees dropping the fruit so they have unlimited amounts and will eat the pits. Most animals avoid the pits or swallow them whole and don't digest them anyway.

The problem with toxic or dangerous food item lists is that they are never very detailed and anyone can make them. Garlic and onions are often found on toxic "do not feed" lists and then are used in controlled amounts by thousands of people for dozens of animal species because of the health benefits. It's best to research the specific reasons and restrictions with each item instead of only following all inclusive lists or eventually you won't be feeding anything. It's all on someone's list somewhere.

Ok! Thanks for the info.

thanks for all the great info guys. i think i'll pass on the dried fruit for now and stick will reg fruit and greens.

thanks again