Cherry trees

[Kerio]

Hi everyone,

longtime lurker, first time poster. I've recently acquired a new allotment with a couple of cherry trees. I'm not really a cherry person so I'm going to cut them down. Can I give the branches and leaves to my chickens to eat?

 

[R2elk]

Hi everyone,

longtime lurker, first time poster. I've recently acquired a new allotment with a couple of cherry trees. I'm not really a cherry person so I'm going to cut them down. Can I give the branches and leaves to my chickens to eat?

I highly recommend that you do not cut the cherry trees down. You don't have to like cherries for those trees to be beneficial. If nothing else, your chickens will be happy to eat the cherries for you while the trees provide shade.

Chickens are not going to eat branches from any tree and if my memory serves me correct, cherry tree leaves contain toxins that can be harmful to chickens. I have never seen any of my poultry eating cherry tree leaves.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I think most people have cherry trees for ornamental reasons. I wouldn't cut them down unless they are obstructive or diseased.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

Chickens don't eat tree leaves. For any ruminant animal that does eat tree leaves (e.g., goats, deer, etc), though, it is a very bad idea to cut cherry branches as feed. As the leaves wilt they create some form of cyanide that can kill animals that eat too much.

 

[Kerio]

Thanks for the responses, I'll have to dispose of them another way