Feeding my chicky's pecans! Anybody know Pros/Cons on this?!

[riverman]

I've read on a couple articles that pecans are good for chickens but dont have any scientific information on it. I have pecan trees all in my yard so I have plenty of treats for little buddies, just wanna make sure its all good!

Anybody got anything?!

-P-

 

[maizey]

those are 12.00 a pound in my area... are you sure you want to feed them to the chicks? I had a handful of left over, slighty burned ones that i tossed to mine and they seemed to love them..but man.. thats some expensive chicken feed. If I hadn't scorched those, they wouldn't have gotten them. Pecans are people food around here

 

[PunkinPeep]

Just personal experience with how chickens eat, i would happily let them eat the pecans in the yard. It's great nutrition and great winter foraging. Are they all whole, or do they end up cracked open in the yard?

 

[gritsar]

I've spent many a pleasurable afternoon sitting out under our pecan tree with my flock, cracking open pecans for them. They wait in line for their turn, like good little chickies.

 

[MissJenny]

Mine got crushed pecans Christmas Day. I am hoping the oil helped keep them warm -- they certainly enjoyed the taste!

Jenny

 

[riverman]

Well I can only sell them for 75 cents a pound unshelled and some are so small they're hard to crack for pie's and such. I just smash a bunch with a hammer and put it all in a bowl for them. They eat out all the nut meat and leave the cracked shell for mulch and such!

I do it a couple times a week. I was just wondering what the overfeeding limit could be. Or the nutritional plus from them.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

We used to have a lot of pecan trees and if you drive over them with your car they will crack and make a perfect mess for the chickens to

clean up.

 

[Pequena Bandada]

Pecans are 8% carb, 87% fat, and 5% protein. So if you're feeding them A LOT, you're lowering the optimal protein level that's found in chicken feed (16- 18%). But I don't know, nuts are so good for people, they have to be good for chickens too!

 

[ivan3]

Fat is ~90% unsaturated (pecan & hickory). Some essential minerals. ~6 cal. per gram of `meat'. Our chooks and turks get serious about the hickory nuts. Our 64 Pecans are not bearing, yet. They'll eat the crushed store-bought but, the Euell Gibbon `moments' are reserved for Shell & Shagbark. They aren't enthusiastic about hazelnuts. Ours seem to enjoy `picking' through the remnants more than they do eating; they've never exhibited compulsively nutty appetites.

Pecan Weevil larvae are as popular as Mealworms:

 

[Ms.FuzzyButts]

I don't know if it's ok or not.. But once our pecans hit the ground and started getting crushed by the car, they gobbled them up.. They had been on a laying strike, but started laying soon after the pecan gorge feast that occured daily. I seriously doubt the pecans had anything to do with it.. But it sure was a coincidence.