can chickens eat citrus

[M To The Maxx]

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Citrus has a strong acidic acid that can kill your birds if they consume enough of it. I wouldn't feed it to my birds. I never have. Never will.

 

[Gonzo]

I have also heard that the acid in it thins out the egg shells, and can make them stop laying for awhile... Never tried it though..

 

[snowflake]

not to change the subject but what about onions? I know they are not good for dogs. OK cooked or raw???

 

[Gonzo]

Funny you mention that... I just posted something on here a few minutes ago about onions.. and they're bad...

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[Chris09]

I don't know, but I would love to see the "study" done on the whole Citrus being bad for chickens.
The chart that has "good and bad" foods for chicken has dried beans are bad and can kill chicks. I don't think that is all that true either because I have seen some chicken feed that has Mug Beans in it and I know alot of people that use pigeon feed as a scratch for chickens and it has beans in it...
I believe that maybe 1 type of citrus or one type of bean is bad for them and they just put that all citrus and all beans are bad..

Chris

 

[mconro]

Well, I tried orange diced up with the tray of "goodies" I give my chickens. They pecked at it and walked away shaking there head. I don't think they are so dumb that they would eat something that is that sour.

They did like the banana and LOVED boiled spaghetti noodles!

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Mine won't eat a lot of it, but they will eat stuff like oranges and grapefruit if I cut them open first. I think you'd have to feed an awful lot of citrus to do them harm. As in giving them nothing else to eat. Plenty of chickens raised in the citrus growing areas of the nation.

 

[mons02035]

no proof here but some say citrus decreases egg production. That advice comes from old time experience nothing more and not from me. But the cyenne pepper is the same kind of advice and some swear by it, so who knows. Personally, I limit it. My son eats those fruit cup things and what ever he doesn't eat, I give the the girls.

 

[lleighmay]

Mine get all our leftovers and fridge cleanings (unless they are moldy or otherwise not good)... this can include citrus (grapefruit hulls, lemon halves, etc as well as onions and things) which they can eat (or not) according to their choice. Some of them will nibble on the citrus; some don't. I figure they have plenty of other food and can make a choice according to their preference. Besides, we're not talking bulk quantities, just a little bit here or there. I figure they have sense enough to eat what they want/need. Long ago I had a pet rabbit who roamed the house in addition to having his own bunny buffet. A friend's wife (who insisted her bunny could only eat organic approved produce cut into exact quarter inch dice washed down with expensive bottled water) was appalled that my rabbit roamed the house with potential access to several (according to her) instantly deadly houseplants and hazards. She was not pleased when I told her I spent a lot of time outdoors and had never found deceased wildlife which had apparently eaten natural occurring foods which had poisoned them. My bunny didn't commit suicide; I figure my chickens won't either if given plenty of choices. Anything left over at the end of the day is collected and added to the compost heap.

 

[mulewagon]

We give ours all the leftovers, and the orange peels are always left - it's about the only thing they won't eat, no matter how long I leave it. I suspect they wouldn't eat it unless it was absolutely the only organic matter left in the universe!

I rather think the "dangerous foods" list can often be interpreted as, "If your chickens are confined, and all you feed them is a truckload of this stuff, it will kill them."