Chickens are omnivores, and eat almost everything in front of their beaks. But can they also eat bananas?
Yes, chickens can eat bananas! Bananas have many ingredients that are good for your chickens, such as vitamins A, C, and B. They also contain important trace elements such as vitamin C. They also contain important micronutrients like iron, magnesium and niacin.
Bananas make a good snack, but should not be fed daily.
If you have a choice, you should feed your chickens unripe rather than overripe bananas. Bananas that are already very ripe have a higher sugar content and are much softer, which makes them harder to feed to your chickens.
However, you can feed overripe bananas in small amounts.
Contents
Can bananas be toxic to chickens?
No, bananas are not toxic to chickens. However, they can become unhealthy if you feed them daily because they have a high sugar content, with 12 grams of sugar per 100 grams of bananas. And since poultry do not metabolize sugar well, or become overweight if fed too much sugar, it is better not to feed bananas daily.
Nutritional values of 100 g of bananas:
| Calories | 89 kcal |
| Carbohydrates | 23 g, of which 12 g are sugar |
| Fiber | 2,6 g |
| Fat | 0,3 g |
| Protein | 1,1 g |
How many bananas can chickens eat?
Bananas are good snacks, but should not be fed daily. As a rule of thumb, you can feed your chickens one banana for every 5 chickens about once a week.
Are chickens allowed to eat banana peels?
Chickens can eat banana peels, although they usually just pick them apart instead of eating them whole.
Before feeding them to your chickens, be sure to wash them thoroughly, as there may still be chemicals or pesticides on the peel.
Tips on how best to feed bananas to your chickens:
In chunks
Cut bananas into small pieces so your chickens can eat them at their leisure.
In whole, hung up with a string
You can also feed the bananas whole by hanging them with a rope. This has the added benefit of keeping your chickens busy for some time.
As frozen bananas
If it’s particularly warm, you can also freeze the bananas in small pieces and feed them as small, or larger, banana-ice blocks. This way, your chickens have to work a little for their snack and they won’t get bored.
Conclusion
Bananas are a rather exotic snack for your chickens, and one they will have a lot of fun with. As long as you don’t feed bananas too often or too many, your chickens will enjoy the benefits of bananas without problems.
