Fruit for chickens?

[LeaEll]

Is a handful of fruit a day fine for chickens? Our feed store said no fruit, it's too full of suger. I was so surprised to hear that! So I'm here asking you folks!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

When I have fruit scraps, I feed them - same with veggie and meat scraps as well as other leftovers. I have a 'chicken bucket' (a bowl with a lid) that I keep in the refrigerator - when I am prepping food I take it out and put the scraps right into it, dump leftovers in there, etc - we take it out a few times a week to give to the birds.
Whether a handful a day would be too much would depend on how many birds you are feeding. One handful between two birds, for example = a lot of fruit per bird, but that same handful between 20 birds= a lot less per bird. My personal take on this is that all things are good in moderation - treats (fruit, scraps, scratch grains, etc) should be no more than 10% of a their daily intake. If you want to offer just fruit at any one time maybe you can do it 1-2 times a week rather than daily and balance out the rest of the week with offerings from other nutritional make-ups?

 

[LeaEll]

Thx so much! I have 6 6wk old chicks & I'm just gathering info for when they are a little older. I love the bowl-in-fridge idea & will be doing that. Yes 10%, that's what I need to remember!