why no citrus?

[Fowl97]

I was looking on the feed chart https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats_Chart and it said not to feed citrus. I just fed them an orange cut in half and mashed up. They drank it like it was water. Are they going to die now or something?

 

[DaveBeaty]

A Florida Department of Agriculture study found that adding orange pulp to commercial laying chickens' diet caused them to lay fewer eggs. The results of the study came out as "Don't feed your chickens citrus". This had gotten mis-interpreted as "Citrus is bad for chickens".

A later study in Spain found that commercial meat chickens grew just as fast with citrus pulp in their diet as without. So if you have hobby or pet chickens, go ahead and feed them citrus.

I love chickens because they allow me to recycle scraps and weeds into food!

 

[wyododge]

Yep all of them will die, guaranteed. So will you and I.

We feed our chickens everything. Heck I spilled a beer and they pushed me out of the way to get at it.

Mold, dirt, rot, fresh, dry, wet, stinky, slimy. They really don't care. I saw one swallow a petrified mouse that fell out of a burlap bag while we were cleaning up. Probably tasted like leather, but down it went.

Mine wont eat lettuce though, and don't care for carrots either, unless they are shredded. And they will just about beat each other to death for chicken.

I probably would not put out blocks of mouse bait, but other than that, they eat just about anything they want. You would do well to consider the source of those lists, they may be from the same folks who say chicks must have 95* heat for x# of weeks and dropped 5*/day, or what ever it is. Bunch of baloney.

Throw out the food, what they don't eat, compost. After it composts for a while, they will probably dig it up and eat it...

 

[A.T. Hagan]

No, they are not going to die. In fact it's a near certainty they won't be affected in any way whatsoever.

 

[debid]

I've fed the chickens some overripe oranges (not molded, mind you -- they'd just gone past the sweet-tart flavor we prefer) and my chickens went bonkers for them. They didn't eat the peel but the fruit was pecked clean. No apparent ill effects.

I've read that an overly acidic diet can cause weak shells but the occasional orange isn't likely to do anything at all.

 

[Fowl97]

ok yea it was just a squishy one not moldy or anything.

 

[RHRanch]

My chickens love citrus - as a treat its fine. I think I read something about there being a concern with them OD on vitamin C a while back, but I think they would have to consume large quantities for that to be a concern. When I feed citruc, on average each chicken gets 1/2 to 1 orange apeice, and they are fine.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I have a grapefruit tree, and the chickens LOVE the grapefruit that fall on hte ground. Same with the orange trees we used to have. There is no reason not to feed citrus to them.

 

[SunnyDawn]

I used to feed my chickens clementines (small tangerines) and they loved them! After a bit though I noticed an odd flavor to the eggs!

Even my Hubby could taste it and he is oblivious to most bad tastes. Needless to say, I don't feed my girls citrus anymore.

 

[Fowl97]

That was why I was curious. There was no reason listed