Can You Feed Apple Cores to Chickens?

[StevenDVM]

Although apple seeds contain amygdalin, a cyanogenic glycoside; ; but the seeds would need to be crushed when chewed to release enough to be a problem gastrointestinal passage is fast enough in dogs and chickens so it isn't generally a problem.
However because the seeds sit in the rumen of ruminants they decompose there and can release cyanide type compounds if eaten by these species in excess

 

[Beekissed]

They seem to be soft enough to be ground up in the gizzard of the bird, though, so those seeds DO get cracked open with chicken consumption. I know this because I've butchered birds in apple time and found seeds in various stages of grind within the gizzard.

 

[chiques chicks]

My apple trees are in the runs. Mine eat apples all the time. Never had an issue.

I also like to grab an apple as I'm filling the water bowls from the hose then toss the left over core and bad half in the run. I don't use any pesticides or chemicals in my trees, so no issue with that. My apples aren't pretty, but they are all natural!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Dosage, dosage, dosage. Practically anything we or the chickens eat contains something that can harm us or them if we eat to excess. This includes practically everything on the treats chart. You have to eat enough of that substance for it to cause harm. Some things are cumulative so it’s how much you eat over a time period, some things are expelled from the body pretty quickly so you have to eat a whole lot at one sitting.

For example, those whole potatoes so many people are concerned about. A normal healthy human adult would need to eat well over 50 pounds of white potatoes to eat enough solanine to harm themselves. Since the liver is pretty good about separating this out from your body, it would have to be at one time. Bee, if you want to off your hubby get him to eat around 60 pounds of potatoes at one sitting. That might be enough. (Bee and I know each other so I can pick on her.) Chickens are a lot smaller than humans so they would not have to eat as much, but their crops just aren’t that big. Even if they wanted to they could not eat that much. The problem with potatoes is when potatoes turn green. Solanine is concentrated in those potatoes so there is more danger. Humans should not eat green potatoes, the ones that have been sunburned. Keep those away from chickens too. By the way, cooking potatoes are normal cooking temperatures does not break down solanine and make it harmless. Avoid all green potatoes, even cooked ones.

Cabbage, one of the favorite treats on this forum, contains something that can damage the thyroid. That one is cumulative. But a normal healthy human would have to eat about 5 pounds of cabbage every day for a few weeks to see problems unless they had a bad thyroid condition to start with.

If you make a big batch of apple butter or apple cider you might wind up with a big pile of pure apple seeds. Don’t feed those to your chickens. They might get enough cyanide to harm themselves. Probably would not, but they might. But a chicken eating a few seeds in an apple core. I’m not worried about that at all.

If you are uncomfortable with any of these things, don’t feed them to start with. No one will force you to. Even if you are comfortable don’t feed to excess. Feed in moderation. Dosage, dosage, dosage.

Bee, plum pits also contain cyanide. I’ve seen plum pits in chickens’ gizzards when I butcher them. They grind those up too, just like apple seeds. It’s sometimes surprising what you can find in a chickens gizzard if you look.

 

[Beekissed]

I've been finding cherry pits long, long after the cherries are gone and I think they are utilizing them much like a pebble....they are certainly small enough to pass along the digestive tract. I'm not finding too much really good grit in my free ranger's gizzards though we have a gravel driveway and rocky/clay soils with plenty of available material. I'm thinking this switch to fermented feed really reduced the need for large amounts of grit in the gizzard. Don't know yet if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but time usually tells. Thinking about making a trip to the river and getting some natural grit for them and see if they partake like they have a lack or deficit.

And, yes, you can pick on me any ol' time!

If I had a husband to kill, death by potato seems like a likely cause as any around these parts...we do manage to consume a lot of taters.

 

[Fuzzbutt28]

Why would grapes be ok for a chicken to eat but NOT raisins?