Do chickens like apples???

[jag]

Mine love apples!! We have a rock underneath one of our apple trees and DH smashes apples on the rocks for the chickens. They now think he's a god.

Mine also love chasing apples that you throw up the yard.

 

[Nuggetsowner:)]

My girls cannot free range so to keep them busy and entertained I get some windfall apples from my friends farm and tie them with a string to the roof of the run. When they peck at the apples they swing. They love them as a treat and they kind of have to work to get it. It is fun to watch and it keeps them busy for a while!

 

[RioLindoAz]

Quote:
why cant they have the seeds??

they can't eat the seeds cause they have a chemical caaled windex and is bad for huumans too

 

[greenmulberry]

I have a few apple trees and I throw them a couple apples quite often, they love them!

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
why cant they have the seeds??

they can't eat the seeds cause they have a chemical caaled windex and is bad for huumans too

Uh....

Apple seeds and things like cherry pits contain low levels of cyanide which can be bad. My chickens nibble on apples and eat the seeds with no ill effects so far, so the amount in the seed that is released when digested must be so small that it is insignificant.

 

[EboyDog]

I never thought apple seeds were bad... but in doing a little more internet googling:

As I understand now, apple seeds contain cyanogenic glycosides, which when the seed is digested, releases hydrogen cyanide

In http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_cyanide

it states (without confirmation of source) that 100g of crushed apple seeds can yield 217mg of Amygdalin which can generate ~10mg of HCN

So does anyone know how many grams of seed are in a single apple?

Personally, I'm goin to be more careful feeding my guys apples as in the past I have never paid any attention to the seeds and neither have my chickens!



http://extoxnet.orst.edu/faqs/natural/cya.htm

Cyanogenic glycosides are present in a number of food plants and seeds. Hydrogen cyanide is released from the cyanogenic glycosides when fresh plant material is macerated as in chewing, which allows enzymes and cyanogenic glycosides to come together, releasing hydrogen cyanide. Cassava, an important source of carbohydrate for people in Africa and South America, is detoxified by chopping and grinding in running water prior to preparation.1

Cyanide is one of the most potent, rapidly acting, poisons known. Cyanides inhibit the oxidative processes of cells causing them to die very quickly. Because the body rapidly detoxifies cyanide, an adult human can withstand 50-60 ppm for an hour without serious consequences. However, exposure to concentrations of 200-500 ppm for 30 minutes is usually fatal. 5Aside from death, acute cyanide toxicity at small doses can cause headache, tightness in throat and chest, and muscle weakness. The effects of chronic (long-term) exposure to cyanide are less well known.

Food Sources of Cyanogenic Glycosides and Amount of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) Produced1 Plant mg/100 g HCN Glucoside
Bitter almonds 250 Amygdalin
Cassava root 53 Linamarin
Whole sorghum 250 Dhurrin
Lima bean 10-312 Linamarin

 

[EboyDog]

Also I found this site which lists harmful things of pets (dogs in particular but most still applies to chickens)

http://www.qeok.com/dogs/1158-qeok.html

 

[CtlisencedArborist]

Umm chx like everything!!!!!Especially GRASS!!!!Which i havent seen in years!!!!!Were are all the grass pics I was promised!!!

:|

 

[ozark hen]

Quote:

You know I have discovered that chickens have more sense than we give them credit for. My dd told me one day that she saw my chickens eating mushrooms and was it ok? I told her, they know what they can eat as I haven't lost one yet to something they ate.

 

[igotchickens]

Quote:
why cant they have the seeds??

they can't eat the seeds cause they have a chemical caaled windex and is bad for huumans too

I hate to revive an old thread like this but

windex? hahahahaha