Fan palm tree fruit/seeds?

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sillybirds

sillybirds

Songster
13 Years
Aug 5, 2008
569
28
246
California
We have several fan palms around our house which have recently been dropping small round dark fruits. Seeing them last night got me to wondering if it's ok for chickens to eat them, if they'd even like them. Has anyone fed or let their chickens eat these? It seems that they are edible based on what I read at this web site ( http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/edible-palms.html#calfan ).

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
Since no one seems to have had any experience with feeding fan palm fruit to their chickens, I figured I would share the limited experience I have had since originally asking the question.

As the fan palm fruit is reportedly edible, I figured I'd give it a try. They're all over my side walk anyway. I crushed several with a hammer, then offered them to my chickens. As with most new things, the chickens were a little skeptical at first. Then after the brave one tried it, the others joined in. They didn't seem to want to eat the hard little seed part (which I hoped they would). They only seemed to like the outer fruit part. Out of curiosity, I tried the fruit part. It tasted a little like a date, just thinner, tougher, and dryer. Not terrible if you're a chicken, I suppose
smile.png
. I may try to crack the seeds into smaller pieces and offer them again.

Here are some pictures:

Up in the palm tree:
14089_palm_seeds_in_tree.jpg


On the ground on my sidewalk:
14089_palm_seeds_on_ground.jpg


Bunch in hand:
14089_palm_seeds_in_hand.jpg


Close up cracked fruit and seeds:
14089_close-up_palm_seeds.jpg
 

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