Can chickens eat fallen apples?

[finchickens]

Hi! New to this site. Planning on gettting three chickens for my backyard. But I have a apple tree that drops A LOT of apples. Not sure the type of apple (medium size, green, sour)

Will my chickens eat them? And is it bad if they do eat a lot of them (poison in seeds)?

Thanks!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

They may not eat them if they're sour and hard (although they'll soften up with time)...but if they will eat them, they're fine.

Lots of people say apple seeds are toxic/poison, but I make apple cider every fall and my chickens get all the squeezins.....from 8, 10, 15 bushels of apples at a time, and I've never had anything other than happy, healthy chickens!

 

[Rainwing]

yes, we always give apples and pears to our hens off the tree if they're in bad condition. HOWEVER you have to watch out for wasps. I saw my hen get stung once, but that isn't really the issue since they aren't all that bothered by wasp stings. Moreso its an annoyance for you,

If you crush the apple under your foot and into little chunks, then the hens are more likely to eat the whole apple, thus there will be less wasps. Hens are interested in eating the white of an apple, they are not interested in pecking through the skin.

Apple seeds are poisonous but I've never lost any hens to it and we've given them the big apple dump every fall.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I have one of them apple trees that have tiny green apples. The deer eat most but there's always fruit falling in season.
If I find a store bought apple past its prime but not spoiled, I cut in half and give to the girls.
They also love grapes that are slightly past prime.
Remember to not over do, or you'll get watery poo. GC

 

[Callender Girl]

Good question about the seeds. I used to worry about giving apples to even my sheep and goats for the same reason. Glad to hear others have been able to feed them successfully. Grapes are the fruit of choice here. If I step outside and yell, "Grapes," everyone comes running -- unless they are already parked outside the back door waiting for me to try to escape the house.

Welcome to the group, finchickens! Good to have someone further north than me so when I whine about weather next winter, you can remind me that you likely have it worse!!