Can Chickens Eat Grapes?

Grapes are my favorite fruit. Literary, I never refuse to buy myself a portion every time I do grocery shopping. But do you know the fun part? I hate sharing grapes with anyone else.

Grapes are rich in nutrients and taste heavenly. They are juicy, and sweet and do not require peeling or removing seeds. Of course, it saves you time.

The day I gave my chickens a grape to taste, I realized that they love grapes too. Trust my word, chickens love grapes. But you know what? Now I cannot stop sharing grapes with them. It is always on my mind reminding me of them whenever I taste a grape secretly.

In this article, I will be explaining everything you need to know about feeding grapes to chickens. Let us begin.

Can Chickens Eat Grapes?

Yes, chickens can eat grapes, and you already know that. Since grapes are rich in vitamins and minerals, they play a major role in your chickens’ diet. There are diverse varieties of grapes out there. You may be wondering whether it is good to feed any variety of grapes. So far, there have been no issues about that. Muscat, Sultana, pinot noir, merlot, cabernet sauvignon are commonly seen grape varieties. It is up to you to decide which one to feed them.

Nevertheless, make sure you chop or slice the grape into small pieces. It is not safe to let your chickens gobble the whole fruit as they do not have teeth. Therefore, chop the grape before you feed them.

Can Chickens Eat Grape Stem and Seeds?

Surprisingly, chickens can eat grape stems and seeds. It is safe to feed any part of the grapefruit. The seeds aren’t toxic either. The chickens even like to taste grapevine.

The only thing you have to be sure of is that the fruit does not contain chemicals. If the grape stem has chemicals, it affects negatively your chickens. Therefore, wash the stem before letting them eat.

What about Raisins?

Are raisins and grapes similar? No, they are not similar. Raisins are dried grapes for around 3 weeks. Raisins are small in size and the sugar content is more concentrated.

So, do you think your chickens will love raisins? Of course, they love raisins. However, make sure you provide a small number of raisins at once.

Overeating of raising may cause weight gain quickly. That is not healthy for your chickens. Therefore, control feeding them sugary food, including raisins.

How Many Grapes To Feed Chickens?

When it comes to feeding chickens, they should be fed grapes in small quantities. This means for adult chickens, they should be fed no more than 1-2 medium size grapes. For baby chickens, once they are about 3 weeks, you can feed them half of a grape.

Grapes don’t contribute a lot of vitamins and minerals to the chickens. This fruit is high in sugar and water content, which is fed to them in high amounts can lead to health problems.

Therefore, grapes should be served to the chickens as a treat and should not be an integral part of their diet.

How Often To Feed Grapes To Chickens?

Grapes should be fed to the chickens in moderation. While it has a good amount of nutrition in them, it also has a high level of sugar. Too much sugar in their diet can lead to obesity and heart problems.

This fruit should not be fed to them in every. Instead, it should be given to them as a treat, which means once or twice per week.

Like most other fruits, grapes should only make up 10% of their entire diet. The rest should come from quality commercial feeds. Feeds are formulated with the proper amount of nutrition to help keep the chicken strong and healthy.

Benefits Of Grapes For Chickens

Here are the top 4 health benefits of feeding grapes to your chickens:

Reduce Cholesterol

The grapes help to reduce the cholesterol level of the body by decreasing cholesterol absorption. Grapes also aid in lowering blood pressure and other heart-related health problems. Therefore, adding grapes to your chickens’ diet helps them to have a healthy heart with less cholesterol.

Benefit Eye Health

The resveratrol compound in grapes protects the eyes against glaucoma, cataract, and diabetic eye disease. The chickens are also subject to diverse eye infections quite a few times a year. That is heartbreaking. Until you consult a veterinarian, the grapes can be given as a home remedy. I hope that grapes will result in a positive way to minimize eye infections.

Strong Bone Health

The chickens do not look strong. Whenever I see a chicken, I always wish they are more active and stronger. (You know some chickens are lazy!)

As grapes contain calcium, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin K, consuming them highly benefits bone health. When the bones are stronger, your chickens can stay active and happy. I think grapes would be an ideal treat for mature, lazy chickens who do not lay eggs due to poor health.

Prevent Chronic Diseases

The antioxidants in grapes help to repair the damage to cells caused by free radicals, which are harmful molecules that cause oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is the main reason for several chronic diseases such as cancers, heart diseases, and other most common diseases of chickens. The grapes prevent your chickens from subjecting to such risky health conditions.

What Else Chickens Can Eat?

The fact that chickens can eat much of the human food is such a relief for many poultry owners. If you wonder why it reduces the wastage as they can provide leftovers to chickens. Other than that, looking after chickens is more inexpensive than the other farming animals because they can eat almost anything.

However, to be more specific, I would recommend the following food items for your chickens’ diet.

  • Leafy greens
  • Cooked beans
  • Non-sugary cereals and grains
  • Corn
  • Grapes
  • Oranges

In addition to those, you can feed any other fruit and vegetable to chickens by doing a little research. Always make sure you give them a balanced diet. Also, fruits and vegetables need to be clean, and fresh and should not contain any harmful chemicals.

Final Thoughts

The chickens can eat grapes, and they would absolutely love the taste of the grapes. As grapes are a source of essential nutrients, you have nothing to worry about feeding your chickens with grapes.

can chickens eat grapes