Too Much Fruit

[Capvin]

I have a juicer that I use quite often. Mostly I use apples, pears, grapes, berries, peaches and other similar fruits to make juice. The juicer seperates the pulp and it is the pulp that I am wondering about. Usually I have a lot of pulp and I have been saving it rather then throwing it away. I have been giving the pulp to my chickens mixed with yogurt and either some of their feed, oatmeal or scratch. They love it and eat it all whenever I give it to them. What I am wondering is how often can I give them the fruit pulp without it being too much. I usually have enough to give them some every day.

 

[Chick named Lola]

I always go with my mom's advice..everything in moderation. I'd watch em for runny poo but that's all I know about fruit and chickens besides no citrus. I had to cut back their kale because every day was too much and they all had the runs. I cut back to a couple times a week and back to normal.

I'm sure a more experienced person can give you much better advice than this though...I'm sure someone will pop on get you a good answer. Have tried ask.com? I've gotten great info through that in addition to searches on old threads here.

 

[CluckyJay]

Fruit pulp is an excellent addition to your chicken food.

 

[Oregon Blues]

When fresh fruit is in season, my birds get fruit every day.

With any feed, you don't want to give them a huge amount of anything they aren't used to. But if they are getting fruit every day, they are used to it and it won't be a problem for them.

However, seriously, you should be eating the whole fruit and not just the juice. You are throwing away all the fiber, which is one of the really important benefits of fruit.

 

[Capvin]

Quote:
Thanks for the good advise, however, i do save some of the pulp and we eat it also. And you are correct in that it is the best part.

 

[chloezoebob101]

you can never give a chicken too much fruit. it is what God gave for them to eat. if they love it then let them have it!

 

[digitS']

Humans have had a lot to do with the development of the modern chicken breeds altho' there are still some things that haven't been changed much with the chicken. One of them is that the chicken has a relatively short digestive track. Chickens aren't like ruminants with their 4 stomachs and the ability to live well on a high-fiber diet.

I have a pdf file of the Food and Feeding Habits of the Red Jungle Fowl. You can probably find and download it by looking for that title. It will give you some idea of what the chicken was eating for 1,000's of years before it was domesticated.

It is interesting to learn that 81% of what the researchers found in the chickens' crops was plant material and fruit was a very large part of that.

What we should really keep in mind is that the wild Jungle Fowl only lays a couple of clutches of 5 to 8 eggs each year. The hen probably has insufficient protein in her diet, beyond what she needs for her own body maintenance, to produce any more eggs than that.

Steve

 

[wyododge]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/550428/why-no-citrus/10#post_8243026