Crab apple

[Eaford7105]

I was wondering if I could give my chickens the apples from our ornamental crab apple tree? Thanks

 

[Folly's place]

My birds spend time under my crab apple, apple, and pear trees. They eat whatever hits the ground, and the bugs and larvae under the trees. It's self serve here!
You can feed some, as a treat, as long as you haven't been spraying the tree with anything the birds shouldn't be in.
Mary

 

[True Patriot]

I agree with Folly, as long as it's a treat and given sparingly there shouldn't be any problem. If they were out there they would most likely find them on their own

 

[PetesChicks]

They shouldn’t be a problem, as long as they haven’t been sprayed with anything.

I feed my girls all kinds of fruits & veggies. They only get to free range on weekends when I can be out with them, so during the week I try to take care of what they miss out on. I don’t pay too much attention to the 10% rule when feeding fresh treats but I do keep scratch to a minimum. I feel that if they were out free ranging they would be getting into the garden and eating their fill, so veggies are ok.

They get lettuce, Swiss chard, collards, squash, tomatoes and cucumbers pretty regular. When it’s available, apples, grapes, cherries (without the pit), pears, anything like that. Probably about 2-3 cups a day, between the 9 girls. They chow down when I first put it out, then lose interest. It will sometimes take from early morning to mid afternoon before everything is gone.

I also feed fermented feed every morning, and they have dry crumble available 24/7. They eat plenty of that, and I don’t think that any treats I give are any more than they would eat if they free ranged all day.