Are walnuts OK for chickens as a treat?

[Discovery Farm]

Hi fellow bird lovers, just read the great info on flax seeds. I was wondering about walnuts as a treat. We have large old growth walnut trees and the birds will do almost anything for a nibble of the nuts. I know they have a high fat content but they also have lots of protien. I can't seem to find out anything on the internet.

 

[sumi]

Hello and welcome to BYC

I just had a quick look here on the forum and from what I read it seems shelled walnuts are quite safe as a treat.

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Welcome to BYC

 

[CoopersCoop]

HI Discovery Farm,
I would think that Shelled walnuts are ok. I wouldn't give them leaves or twigs from the tree itself tho. The B.W. tree gives off a toxin that isn't goot for pets or other plants. Not positive,, just an opionion.

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan

 

[Discovery Farm]

Hi, thanks for the welcoming to backyardchickens. I am feeling confident with feeding walnuts to the birds but now have a new concern about the area I have put my coop. The coop and run are beside the over hanging walnut trees. One tree is a Black Walnut and the other is an English Walnut tree. The leaves are still falling off the trees and into the run, does anyone know how dangerous this can be to the birds. I am wondering if I should tarp the run until the leaves finish falling, this could be a challenge as I live on the west coast of Canada and we get a lot of rain at this time of year. If anyone has any information it would be helpful. I am new at this and my birds are not yet 6 months old, I just moved them to this new location 3 weeks ago.
TKS

 

[sumi]

I've looked for an answer for you by typing "Walnuts safe for chickens" into the advanced search bar on top. It's our little "chicken google"

I got lots of threads on the topic and some of them do discuss leaves, trees etc. Do what I did and read through the threads. If you use different keywords you'll also get different results. I'm sure you'll get some good info and advice there.

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas and

! Pleased you joined us. I know mine have eaten leftover cookies or cakes with walnuts in them and they suffered no ill effects. Best of luck to you!

 

[HiDesertChicken]

The likelihood of the chickens eating enough walnut leaves to hurt them is not very high. The leaves have anti-worm, anti-parasite properties, so some should be beneficial for the clucks. I am an herbalist of 40+ yrs. standing.

 

[liz9910]

from California!