I know there's a big worry about feeding chickens citrus. The truth is, different types of citrus have different amounts of acidity. There are more types of grapefruit now that are sweeter and lower in acidity because there is larger demand for sweeter, less acidic fruit. I swear, whenever I read these warning posts about citrus, I kinda want to just show everyone how happy my chickens are with their occasional grapefruit treat. They pick those rinds
clean, haha!
My dad buys a fifty pound bag of grapefruit every couple months. He eats what he can, juices what he wants, and if there are any left over that get just a bit too ripe, they are fed to the chickens. I'm not saying that it's something everyone should do. Some chickens have different reactions to food than others. What I'm saying is that my chickens love them, they are fairly sweet grapefruit that we buy from locals in our area here in South Texas (people are selling them EVERYWHERE), and our chickens aren't negatively affected by them. I do know that it normally reinvigorates them (which is odd because it's just grapefruit). Since they normally don't eat acidic food, I think evening it out with some carbs or something that will lessen acidity in their bodies helps.
It definitely shouldn't be an everyday treat. Just like humans, too much acidity isn't good for them. But I think that most anything in moderation is alright. For citrus, especially if you are apprehensive to feeding it to them, wait until it is too ripe. If it's a very acidic fruit, like very sour grapefruit, mash a single grapefruit with a gallon of water and give them the pulpy stuff and the water as flavorful drink. It won't be too much acidity because it's watered down and you can figure out how the citrus affects your chickens without worrying about giving them too much in the first place.
And if anyone is worried about how I figured this out, the reason I know so much about this in particular is because my Pops used to raise a bunch of chickens when he was a kid. Any time there was extra stuff to feed the chickens, they got it. Old citrus was always available down here, so the chickens got it often enough. For birds that aren't accustomed to it, a very small amount of acidic fruit won't hurt them. Just be aware of how different foods affect them and it'll all be okay. A happy chicken is totally worth the time it takes to test how citrus affects your chicken!
