Pears for treats?

[Cryptkeeper]

Has anyone given their birds pears as a treat? I have Lots of pears and wanted to give them to my girls, but unsure if it would be ok. I have read no avocado or citrus. Any input?

 

[Imp]

Pears are OK.
Some people do not use the seeds, as they do contain a toxin.

Imp

 

[Cryptkeeper]

Thanks Imp.

 

[nakstk]

Good thing I found this post I was just going to ask if I needed to cut the seeds out of a pear or leave them in. I know you have to cut them out of an apple but I wasnt sure about pears.

 

[andycowboy]

Has anyone given their birds pears as a treat? I have Lots of pears and wanted to give them to my girls, but unsure if it would be ok. I have read no avocado or citrus. Any input?

Whoa! No citrus? I've heard no citrus peels, but I recently started giving the girls left over apples, bananas, oranges, honeydew melons, cantaloupes, seedless grapes...am I hurting them? The first time I gave them apples, I didn't know about the peels reportedly being a problem - that was about a week ago, and I haven't seen any health problems. Should I stop the fruits?

Curious, though...if your birds are free-range, which mine are, and you have apple trees anywhere close, which I don't, what keeps them from eating fallen apples? I'm getting confused a little, but I sure don't want to put their health in danger!

While we're on the subject, are raw potatoes OK - do they need to be peeled?

Thanks to all BYC members for sharing their thoughts, their ideas, and their knowledge. So much to learn, now that I'm trying this again! Everyone have a great evening, and God bless!

 

[dainerra]

I never bother cutting out the seeds. I made an apple pie this morning and threw all the cores and peels into the run. All that's left is a scattering of seeds on the ground.
An animal would have to ingest several pounds of seeds in a sitting to be dangerous because the amount of cyanide in them is so minuscule. Also, the seeds are only digestible if they are crushed, making poisoning even more unlikely.

http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/apples.asp

Tapioca is actually more dangerous

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

The amount of toxin in pear and apple seeds is extremely small. If a human sat and munched on a entire cup of apple or pear seeds, chewing them thoroughly, it would make them sick. I very much doubt that tossing the occasional pear or apple to your chickens is going to harm them in any way. Feeding them a bushel might be another story, although I'd guess that that much fruit might make them sick anyway. I've tossed mine a pear from time to time when it got too soft for my liking and the pecked it to a pulp and devoured it.

 

[BellevueOmlet]

I remove all seeds just so they don't get the toxin even though it is probbaly not enough to be an issue.

 

[donrae]

Canning season my flock gets all the scraps--cores, peels, soft fruit, etc. Apples, pears, tomatos, cukes, whatever I'm canning they're eating. Some days they just gorge on the scraps and eat hardly any feed. No, it doesn't hurt them. No, it doesn't effect the laying.