Can Chickens Eat Apricots?

Apricots are fragrant with soft, velvety skin. The inside is tender and sweet. This fruit is nutritious and healthy to eat. For humans, apricots are safe to consume, but what about chickens? Can you feed them apricots too?

Can chickens eat apricots? Yes, chickens can eat apricots. This fruit is nutritious and healthy for the chickens to eat. Avoid feeding the leaves, stems, and pits of apricots to them. It contains cyanogenic glycosides which are toxic to them. 

Is It Healthy For Chickens To Eat Apricots?

Apricots are nutritious and contain many essential vitamins and minerals that the chicken needs to stay healthy.

Furthermore, apricot is a good source of beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin. All of these are potent antioxidants that help fight off free radicals in the body.

Fiber

The entire chicken’s diet should consist of 10% fiber or less. Chickens need fiber in their diet to keep their digestive system healthy and reduce feather pecking.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is important to the overall health of the chicken. This vitamin is an essential nutrient for the chicken’s nose, skin of the inner eyelid, and esophagus. The mucous-producing glands in each part need vitamin A to function properly.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants are important for the immune system of chickens. The antioxidants help prevent free radicals from damaging the cells in the body.

If there are too many free radicals in the body, the cells will be damaged. This will lead to illness and other diseases.

Can Baby Chickens Eat Apricots?

Baby chickens should not be fed any apricots. Their digestive system has not developed properly yet and will be unable to digest the fruit.

Instead of feeding them apricots, you should feed them a regular diet of starter feed. These feeds have been formulated with the right amount of nutrition to meet the chick’s daily nutrition needs.

Once the baby chickens are around 3 weeks old, you can start to feed them apricots. Be sure to feed them only a small amount first. Leave the fruit by the chicks and let them eat it on their own.

Can Chickens Eat Dried Apricots?

Yes, chickens can eat dried apricots, but it’s not recommended to feed them. The reason why is the sugar content in the dried fruit.

Dried apricots are very high in sugar. In fact, one cup of dried apricots contains about 69 grams of sugar.

This is a large increase when compared to 1 cup (.24 l) of fresh apricots that contain 15 grams of sugar.

Too much sugar in their diet will cause health problems for the chickens, which includes things such as obesity and high blood pressure.

To prevent any health issues, it’s best to not feed them any dried apricots.

If you really want to feed them dried apricots, only give them a very small amount of it.

Can Chickens Eat Canned or Preserved Apricots?

Yes, chickens can eat canned apricots, but it’s highly recommended not to feed them. Canned apricots contain preservatives and extra sugar. All of these are not healthy for the chickens.

If you want to feed them canned apricots, only give them a very small piece of it.

Can Chickens Eat Apricot Jam?

Yes, chickens can eat apricot jam, but it’s not healthy for them. Jam contains a lot of sugar and this can be harmful to them.

How to Feed Chickens Apricot?

When it comes to feeding apricots to your chickens, you can either feed them fresh apricots or mix them with other fruits.

Whichever method you choose, it’s important to remove the pit from each fruit.

Feeding Fresh Apricots

Feeding fresh apricots to your chickens will offer them the most nutrition.

With an apricot, cut the fruit in halves and remove the pit from it. Then you can toss the whole fruit to your chickens or slice them into pieces.

One thing to be aware of is where you’re getting apricots from. If it’s bought from the grocery store, most of the time, the fruit will contain traces of chemicals in the skin.

Apricots are often grown with the help of fertilizers and help keep pests off the fruit with pesticides.

Mixing With Other Fruits

Apricots can be mixed with other fruits to make a fruit salad. This is a great method to give the chickens a boost in nutrition. Besides apricots, you can add apples, pears, plums, and blueberries to the mix. Make sure to only use a small amount of each fruit. Most fruits are high in sugar which can harm the chickens in large amounts.

Once all the fruits are mixed, mix them together in a bowl and toss them to the chickens. You can only place them into their feeding bowl to keep the place clean.

How Many Apricots Should You Feed Your Chickens?

You should feed apricots to your chickens in a small amount. This means for each chicken, a thin slice of apricot is enough. For baby chickens, once they are about 3 weeks old, you can give them a small piece of the fruit.

Apricots should only make up 10% of their entire diet. The rest of their diet should consist of quality commercial feeds. These feeds have been formulated with the right amount of nutrition to meet the chicken’s dietary requirements.

How Often Should You Feed Your Chickens Apricots?

Apricots should be fed to the chickens in moderation. While containing many essential vitamins and minerals, it’s also high in sugar and water content. Both of these are very harmful to the chickens in a large amount.

Since apricots aren’t one of their staple food, you should not feed them apricots every day. This fruit should be fed to them once or twice per week.

Other Fruits That Chickens Can Eat

Dragon Fruit

Dragon fruit contains a lot of nutrition that’s healthy for the chickens. All parts of the fruit can be fed to the chickens, but it’s best to feed them just the flesh and seeds. The skin is too tough and will be difficult for them to eat. If you do want to feed them the skin, which is highly nutritious as well, cut them into tiny pieces. For this fruit, you will want to feed them to the chickens in moderation. This is due to the high amount of sugar it has, which can cause health problems for them if they eat too much of it.

Jackfruit

This is a tropical fruit that’s popular for its large size and sweet flesh. Chickens will gain a lot of health benefits from eating jackfruit. While the fruit is high in nutrition, it contains a lot of sugar as well. Too much sugar in their diet can lead to obesity, heart problems, and other health issues. It’s best to feed jackfruit to your chickens in a small amount, once or twice per week.

Mango

Mango is a low-calorie fruit that is high in fiber, and a good source of vitamins A and C. This fruit makes a great treat for chickens. While the nutrition is great for them, it’s also has a large amount of sugar. Too much sugar will lead to obesity, heart problems, and other health issues. Therefore, it’s best to feed mangoes to your chickens in moderation.

Conclusion

Apricots make a healthy and nutritious treat for chickens. It contains all the essential vitamins and minerals that the chickens require each day to stay strong and healthy.  However, apricots have a high amount of water, which can be harmful to the chickens. Too much water in their diet will cause them to have digestive issues such as diarrhea, bloating, and an upset stomach. To prevent any issues, feed apricots to your chickens in moderation.