Feeding Walnuts to chickens

[RanchoPacifico]

I have several English Walnut trees and end up with some bits and pieces after shelling. Does anyone have info on walnuts as a food source for chickens? I feed my hens layer pellets and supplement with greens and other treats. They get oyster shells on the side and have course sand in the run.

 

[swampcat]

Sorry no one has gotten back to you. My completely non-expert advice is: can people eat them? If people can eat the nuts then as long as they are on the treat list as okay I'd go for it. My girls love smashed almonds. Serve as a treat and not as a whole meal plan, though.

 

[SteveBaz]

My understanding is walnuts are high in protein but the food is a questionable food to feed a chicken. The outside has no food value, the shell can not be cracked by a chicken and to hull them is not easy. I have not seen a walnut a chicken would eat yet. I have no personal experience with nuts and my girls other than like seeds.

 

[Thespoiledchicken]

I have a black walnut tree that sits over my chicken area. The squirrels love to sit in the tree and eat the walnuts, lots of pieces end up on the ground and my chickens love eating them. I think my girls are in more danger from a walnut falling on them than anything else, lol. Everyone is healthy and I have not had any problems from them eating the remnants. I would say you are probably safe so long as it's just a treat

Good Luck!

Trish

 

[Fowel Frenzy]

Quote:
HaHa

A tru chicken little story- the sky is falling.

 

[Fowel Frenzy]

Quote:
I must be extra simple because I'm entertained all weekend just playing with the girls...

 

[TerryR]

I have know people to feed chickens English walnuts, first crushing them. They say not to feed them too many, it will make the chickens too fat. As previously stated use them as a treat not a major part of their diet.

 

[Original Recipe]

I have three 60 year old black walnut trees. If you peel back the husks when they are at that stage where they are really black and gooey and stain everything that comes in contact with them,you will find that they are filled with dozens of insect larva that resemble maggots. Once my girls discovered that, they picked the husks off like crazy. Their beaks and faces were stained for weeks. I was most worried that the high levels of tanic acid would give the eggs and off color and/or a bad taste, but neither concerns seemed to be warranted.

Although my girls really seemed to enjoy picking the little buggies out of the husks, I never saw them pick at any of the cracked open pieces that the squirrels dropped. Like the previous poster, I finally decided that the biggest threat was getting killed by falling walnuts. So when they were falling the hardest, I confined the girls to their covered run most of the time.

 

[ChiqueHenCrazy]

This is what I use to dress feed periodically.http://www.bulkherbstore.com/BWHP
It's human food grade, organic. Walnut hulls have lots of nutritional and antioxidant power. I think they also help eliminate worms in both humans & livestock!!!! So I say GO FOR IT!

 

[ChiqueHenCrazy]