Strawberries are a favorite fruit to eat during the summer. It’s full of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrition. Also, strawberries are high in water content which helps keep you hydrated. While the fruit is safe for humans to eat, can you feed strawberries to your chickens too?
So, can chickens eat strawberries? Yes, chickens can eat strawberries, which includes the seeds and leaves. This fruit is packed with nutrition that’s healthy for the chickens to eat. However, due to the high amount of sugar, it’s best to feed them in moderation.
Is It Healthy For Chickens To Eat Strawberries?
Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin C and manganese. Also, it contains a decent amount of folate and potassium.
Below are some of the health benefits of feeding strawberries to your chickens:
Keep Chickens Hydrated
Strawberries mainly consist of 91% water. This makes strawberries a good food to keep the chickens hydrated, especially during the summer months. Give them a couple of the fruit to eat throughout the day to keep them from being dehydrated.
Prevent Illness
Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin C. This is an antioxidant that’s necessary to keep the immune system strong.
If there are too many free radicals, the cells will be damaged and lead to diseases and other illnesses. Antioxidants in the body prevent free radicals from damaging the cells in the body.
If the chickens do get ill, a good amount of vitamin C in their diet will help them recover quickly from the illness.
Can Chickens Eat Strawberry Leaves?
The strawberry leaves are perfectly safe for your chickens to eat. Not only is it safe, but it contains some great nutritional benefits.
The leaves of the strawberry plant contain a lot of antioxidants and rich in bioactive natural sources. This means it will strengthen the chicken’s immune system and keep them strong and healthy.
Strawberry leaves are soft and edible for the chickens to eat. You can just leave the leaves on the fruit and give them to them. They’ll eat the fruit and the leaves as well.
Can Chickens Eat Strawberry Jam?
Strawberry jam should not be fed to chickens. The reason for that is due to the jams containing additives and preservatives. One of the additives is the extra sugar content that’s added to it. Too much sugar is bad for the chickens and can harm their health.
Therefore, if you made a sandwich with strawberry jam, it’s best to discard any leftovers. However, if you’re feeding them to a large flock of chickens, it’s fine to feed them. Most likely, each chicken will get a small piece of the sandwich which won’t cause them any issues.
How Do You Feed Strawberries To Your Chickens
When it comes to feeding strawberries to your chickens, you can either give them the whole fruit or mix it with other fruits.
Feeding Fresh Strawberries
Fresh fruit will always be the best way to feed your chickens. Wash the fruit thoroughly first to remove any dirt and pest that may be on there.
Then cut off the leaves, or you can leave the leaves on. Chickens will eat everything on the fruit.
Toss them to the chickens or place them into their feeder.
Mixing Strawberries With Other Fruits
You can mix the strawberries with other fruit to make a fruit salad. This is an excellent way to give your chickens a boost in nutrition.
Besides strawberries, you can use watermelon, cantaloupe, figs, and apples. Make sure to use a small piece from each fruit. Most of these fruits are high in sugar, and they can be harmful if there’s too much sugar in their diet.
Place all the fruits into their feeder and toss them to your chickens.
How Many Strawberries Should You Feed Your Chickens?
While the fruit is packed with nutrients that are healthy for the chickens, it’s best to feed them in a small amount.
Strawberries contain a high level of sugar. When there is too much sugar in the chicken’s diet, it will cause them health problems. It can lead to obesity, heart problems, and high blood pressure.
Therefore, for an adult chicken, you can give them half of a strawberry. For baby chickens that are at least 3 weeks old, you can give them a tiny piece of the fruit.
How Often Should You Feed Your Chickens Strawberries?
Like most other fruits, strawberry is high in sugar. For that reason, it’s best to feed strawberries to your chickens in moderation.
Strawberries should not be something that is fed to them on a daily basis. This fruit should
Other Fruits That Chickens Can Eat
Avocado
Avocado is packed with vitamins and minerals. Also, it’s a good source of antioxidants and fiber. When feeding this fruit to your chickens, avoid the leaves, skin, and seeds of the fruit. It contains a poison that is toxic for the chickens. Only feed them the flesh when the fruit is ripe.
Cherries
Cherries are full of vitamins such as A, C, E, and K. It also has minerals and a good source of choline. All of these nutrients are essential for a chicken’s health. You can either feed them cooked or fresh cherries.
Bananas
Bananas have an abundance of vitamins and minerals in them. This fruit is soft and easy for the chickens to digest. However, bananas are high in sugar, which can be harmful to the chickens if it’s fed them too much.
Conclusion
Strawberries make a great treat to feed your chickens. It’s full of nutrients that they need on a daily basis to stay healthy and strong. However, like most other fruits, it’s high in sugar and water. These two things are harmful to the chickens if they consume too much of them. Therefore, feed strawberries to your chickens in moderation to avoid health issues.
