feeding un-ripe apples and pears

[jenn-E]

We have a variety of fruit trees on our property. I have been feeding the downed plums to the chickens & they love them. I was wondering if I could feed the downed apples & pears to them as well. These are pretty small & hard. Would I have to shred them? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[dragonchick]

I don't think they would hurt them but I would go slow as they may get very loose stools.

 

[jenn-E]

Thanks for the thoughts. I think I will stick with feeding them the plums which are soft (in moderation) & just compost the apples & pears.

 

[7L Farm]

Quote:
Why don't you eat them?

 

[jenn-E]

These are the fruit that fall off the trees before they get ripe, or fall off before we get a chance to pick them. We also get fruits later in the season that were ripe, but just too high for us to reach. The plums right now are almost ripe, but we haven't started picking them yet.

 

[Ruth Ann]

We have pear trees. We have been cutting the pears into quarters and
feeding them to the chickens. They are underripe ones that fall from the trees.
The chickens seems to eat them ok, though not as much as a slice of watermelon

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I have both a pear and an apple tree. The birds and bunny love fallen fruit from both, although the harder (more un-ripe) the fruit is, the less likely the birds will eat it. As long as the fruit does not become the main portion of their diet it should be fine. Many folks deliberately add fruit to their birds diet.

 

[Organics North]

I have use up to 20% pumpkin or apple in my birds diet. Easy thing would be to just toss them in and if they eat them then they like it..

I pick up apples and excess pumpkins in fall an store them outside (Constant freezer temps were I live.) I will bring a handful in and thaw and mash with their feed as "something different" during the long winter..

ON

 

[Ironmaiden]

What an awesome thread. I was just wondering this yesterday. I like to utilize what is at hand, and I have a pear tree by the pond. It is heavy with unripe fruit. I wondered if the green pears would be edible for them. Like Ruth Ann says, they LOVE melon! I also have wild blackberries, and don't want to make any more jam, so they have been getting those as well.

 

[jenn-E]

We also have blackberries, but we usually eat all that we can pick. The ones we don't pick get left on the bushes for the birds and the bunnies. I love my chicks, but I am not going to the effort of picking blackberries for them. The chickens will not have free-range privileges in the yard until they are closer to full grown (we have hawks), so they only get what I throw in the chicken yard. I have been picking up a couple of plums each time I go out to give to them. I may try some apples or pears when they're a little closer to being ripe.