6 week old chicks and fresh fruit / pineapple as treats

[higgy62]

Hi.
I have a dozen adorable 6 weeks old now in their run.
I haven't given them any human food yet - and have only started on treats like dried mealworms and ground up oats, corn, and the like.

To start with, I was wondering if it is ok to give them cut up chunks of pineapple. I have a few small ones (baby pineapples) growing on my property and they are too small for me, so I was thinking about cutting them up into chunks as treats.

Is it ok to feed The skin (outside of pineapple), the center core, and the fruit itself.

Is this too rich for young chicks? Will the pieces be too big?
For that matter, I assume it is ok for fully grown chickens, but not sure.

On the same lines, what are the guidelines regarding other fruits like mangos, etc?

Thanks!

 

[Ponte]

My hens love to eat any fruit that drop from our trees. We have mango, banana, peaches, pomegranate, fig, soursop, níspero, mamey, lychee, avocado, pineapple, longans, oranges, guava, etc.
Amazed at how much fruit they eat and still eat the crumble.

 

[Acre4Me]

Since they are 6 weeks old, my recommendation is to stick 99% to formulated chick feed. Keep in mind that an adult chicken eats about 1/4lb food per day. A 6 week old chick eats less than this. Treats for an adult bird should not exceed 10% of their daily intake. 10% of a 1/4 lb of food is approx a scant Tablespoon. So, for a chick it is less than that.

But, why dilute their formulated feed as chicks? A treat that I’ve given here is wet feed with seeds sprinkled on top, or scrambled eggs with shell (from the eggs) mixed in, or some chopped up fruit. That way the “treat” is mostly feed.

With regards to pineapple as a treat for chickens in general, I don’t think it is problematic. However, search on here for things not to feed chickens, and there should be lists that come up. You can also look at the PoultryDVM website as they have many useful info-graphics on many chicken subjects.

 

[SueT]

X2 on post 3
Fruit may cause loose poop, be prepared to deal with it.....