Apple Treats for Chickens

Here are some fun ideas for apple treats for your backyard chickens.

It's apple season! Local apples are plentiful at local orchards, farmers markets, in the grocery store and if you're lucky, on the trees on your property.

We fed our horses the apples from the trees on our farm when we lived in Virginia, but now that were in Maine, we buy from a local orchard. And when we have extras, I like to treat the chickens with fun apple treats.

Apple Treats for Chickens

Chickens love apples, and the skins and flesh are nutritious treats. Apples contain vitamins and minerals, as well as pectin and amino acids.

But it's important to note that apple seeds contain cyanide. No, eating a few apple seeds won't kill your chickens, but I like to err on the side of caution and core the apples (or at least remove the seeds) before feeding to my flock.

That said, there are a couple of fun ways to serve up apple treats to your flock....

Apple Slices with Peanut Butter

Core an apple, then fill the middle with peanut butter. Chill stuffed apple until the peanut butter hardens, then slice and serve.

Stuffed Apple Treats

For this fun treat, I use three or four apples, 1/2 Cup of natural peanut butter and 1/2 Cup of sunflower seeds. You can sub in unsalted almonds, dried cranberries, raisins, or other nuts or seeds as you wish.

Your chickens will love pecking at the peanut butter and then eating the apple, which ends up being rolled around the run as they fight to get all the peanut butter out.

For the full article on making these treat, click HERE.

Apple Garlands

Using butcher's twine, thread diced apples, zucchini and unsalted popcorn into garlands to hang in the run. You can also string cranberries, grapes, radishes or strawberries for them.

Hang the garlands in the run for the chickens to peck at. Just be sure to remove the strings once they eat the treats so they don't pull them down and possibly choke on them.

Hanging Apples

You can also wash and core whole apples and hang them in the run from a length of twine or ribbon. The chickens will work on them slowly, enjoying pecking at them at they hang.