While avocados are known for their rich content of antioxidants and nutrients beneficial to humans, a question arises – can chickens eat avocados? Are avocados safe for your fowls?
The answer is maybe. It’s because some parts of the avocado plant can be toxic to your poultry.
This article will cover
- Can Your Chickens Eat Avocados Without Getting Poisoned?
- Avocado Nutrients That Can Be Good To Your Chickens
- Avocado Parts To Your Chickens
- Avocado Consumption Level
- Effects Of Avocado Ingested On Chickens
- Other Avocado Effects On Chickens
- How To Feed Avocados To Your Chickens With Caution
- What To Do When Your Chickens Accidentally Consume Avocado Pits And Skins?
Can Your Chickens Eat Avocados Without Getting Poisoned?
Chickens are like pigs that can consume various foods besides their usual grains, seeds, and pellets. And some fruits and vegetables are great supplements for your chickens. But what about avocados? Can chickens eat avocados?
We all know that chickens are omnivores and eat an assortment of food choices to whet their need to eat. So, when it comes to avocados, to feed your chickens with this fruit depends on whether you believe it can be fatal or not.
Some chicken keepers feed their fowls avocados cautiously without seeing any adverse effects. At the same time, most breeders avoid such manner. The main reason is, a vast part of the avocado is toxic for your chickens. So, who should you believe and follow?
But yes, there are reports of chickens dying from consuming avocado skins. So, never feed a whole avocado fruit to one chicken rather than to a group of fowls. Still, providing a group of chickens with avocado fruit should not be constant.
So, here we present some facts from research and studies to guide you on whether it is safe for your chickens to eat avocados. Read more so you can decide with intent whether you will feed your poultry with avocado peels, flesh, stone, or not.
Avocado Nutrients That Can Be Good To Your Chickens
Fiber
Avocado will supplement fiber to the chickens’ diet that helps lower the possibility of diarrhea or constipation. Fiber regulates the water in the chickens’ intestines that prevents these health concerns.
Water
Some chickens will consume more than a liter of water every day on warmer days since chickens are thirsty animals. That’s why it’s vital to ensure your chickens have easy access to fresh and clean water.
Avocados are a great water source, so they can help hydrate the chickens. During summer or hot days, and the chicken turns down to drink, many cases claim that a bit of taste of avocado will return the chickens’ manners to normal.
Vitamin A
Chickens need a lot of vitamin A to sustain their growth plus boost their egg production. Vitamin A deficiency can lead to a decrease in egg production and the chickens’ weakness.
Riboflavin
Vitamin B2 or Riboflavin also helps in the quality of egg production. More so, curly-toe paralysis in chicken occurs when there is vitamin B2 deficiency.
Vitamin E
Crazy Chick Disease or Encephalomalacia occurs when there is vitamin E deficiency in chickens.
Omega Fats
The omega- 3 and omega- 6 fats can also help your chickens. Omega fat can reduce inflammation, more common for older chickens suffering from arthritis.
Calcium
This nutrient is many times beneficial to chickens. Aside from it prevents crickets from your chickens, it helps build stronger bones plus stronger eggshells.
Niacin
Chickens benefit from the anti-inflammatory properties of niacin. Lack of niacin can lead to chickens suffering from mouth cavity inflammation and bowed legs.
Pantothenic Acid
A deficiency of this nutrient to your chickens’ diet can lead to lesions and dermatitis on their feet and mouth.
Copper and Iron
These nutrients prevent anemia from chickens.
Zinc
Zinc helps with the development of the feathers and bones of your chickens.
100g Avocados Nutrition
Nutrient | Value |
energy | 160 kcal |
water | 73.2 g |
protein | 2 g |
fat | 14.7 g |
carbohydrate | 8.53 g |
fiber | 6.7 g |
sugars | 0.66g |
Vitamin C | 10 mg |
Vitamin K | 21 ug |
Manganese | 0.142 mg |
iron | 0.55 mg |
potassium | 485 mg |
magnesium | 29 mg |
phosphorus | 52 mg |
sodium | 7 mg |
zinc | 0.64 mg |
folate | 81 ug |
Avocado Parts To Your Chickens
Avocado Peels Or Skin To Your Chickens
Avocado peels are toxic to your fowl because of the toxin called person found in it. When your fowls eat many avocado peels, respiratory problems will develop in their system within a day or two. This toxin persin is also available on the barks and leaves of an avocado plant. So, when you have an avocado plant, keep your free-range chickens away from it.
Avocado Meat Or Flesh To Your Chickens
Avocado flesh still contains a small amount of persin. So, it’s still best not to feed your chickens avocado flesh most of the time.
Avocado Stone Or Seed To Your Chickens
You can also find the toxin persin in the avocado seed. Fortunately, chickens skip pecking or eating that part of the avocado fruit.
Avocado Consumption Level
Feeding avocados to chickens is a controversial issue. Some chicken owners claim to feed their chickens with avocados, while others avoid it at all costs. It’s not accurate to say that avocados as a whole are poisonous to chickens.
But, it’s right to say that chickens are prone to get sick and die due to the fungicidal toxin in avocado skin, pit, and stone called persin.
Large doses of this fungicidal toxin can cause heart and lung problems for your chickens. Then, it can cause death within 48 hours.
So, like many other food treats, feed avocado to your chickens, if you must, in smaller portions and a few and far between times.
Effects Of Avocado Ingested On Chickens
The death of a chicken because of the toxin persin in avocados depends on the dose and the fowl. Persin is a fungicidal toxin that happens naturally in avocados. Persin is present in avocado barks, leaves, skin, and seeds.
The weaker and older chickens are more prone to die than the healthier ones. Small doses of persin in chickens can cause myocardial tissue damage, increased heart rate, labored breathing, weakness, unrest, and apathy.
More so, feeding smaller animals like your chickens with avocados with their seeds can have a fatal effect resulting in death. Again, the harm depends on the age and amount you feed your chickens. Small quantities of avocados to chicks are as lethal as with old and weaker chickens. A significant dose to an older hen or rooster can also kill them in a matter of days.
Some of these clinical signs are not serious in a short time but can be the reason for long-term health issues on your chickens. Persin also leads to your chicken becoming more prone to other diseases and health concerns on their immune systems. More so, a higher intake of persin can bring death to your chickens within 12-24 hours from the acute respiratory syndrome.
The bright side is that most chickens won’t eat the avocado stone, stems, or leaves. Yet, these cluckers will eat the avocado skin to get to its flesh. That’s why you have to peel it out before you give an avocado fruit to them.
While the fats in avocado are good fats, too much of it can also lead to weight gain for your birds. As chicken breeders, we all know that weight gain contributes to a lot of health issues that can lead to early death. Health concerns from obesity in chickens include kidney disease, heart disease, and diabetes.
Beyond persin and fats, avocados also have acids that chickens can’t digest quickly. So, it can also lead to upsetting diarrhea that can even continue for up to several weeks.
Other Avocado Effects On Chickens
Hypersensitivity
There will be acute skin irritation and vomiting o your chickens.
Allergic Reactions
Depending on the chickens’ sensitivity, the bird may experience itching and hair loss.
Liver Damage
High levels of estragole and anethole can damage the liver. It can even lead to cancerous effects.
Gastrointestinal Irritation
This side effect is most common for hens. Gastrointestinal irritation can downright upset egg production.
How To Feed Avocados To Your Chickens With Caution
Get Rid Of The Stone
Cut your avocado in half and remove the stone. Though your chickens will never eat the avocado stone, it’s always best to be more cautious to ensure they don’t have access to any of it.
Scooping The Avocado Flesh
Use a spoon to scoop out the avocado flesh to give to your chickens. Ensure the meat is not too close on the avocado skin because that part of the fruit may contain a higher level of the toxin persin.
Feed Your Chickens Small Portions Of Avocado
Even the edible flesh of the avocado still has a persin and higher content of fat, so it’s best to offer small servings of the fruit. You can feed your chickens one-quarter of an avocado every few days.
Remove The Skin
Ensure there’s no part of the skin and pit from the avocado before serving them to your chickens. The skin and the pit have the highest level of person in the avocado.
What To Do When Your Chickens Accidentally Consume Avocado Pits And Skins?
Chickens are intuitive when it comes to eating their food. So, these birds won’t care to eat avocados in any case. These fowls know when the food is good for them or not, and they are known to avoid toxic food like the plague.
Suppose your chickens accidentally consume the poisonous parts of the avocado. In that case, you can call the vet as soon as possible to check if there is anything that he can do about it. But, if it’s a small amount of avocado flesh, you don’t need to worry about it. This small portion will not cause death to them.
End Of The Line
Can your chickens eat avocados? You can provide the fatty meat of the avocado fruit to your chickens, but only if you have to. The best recommendation is to offer them entirely since you can find other yummy treats for your chickens that are not toxic.
Joseph Hudson has been raising chickens for over 15 years. In 2018, he completed the Agriculture & Natural Resources program at Mt. San Antonio College. He currently raises over 1400 chickens on his 7.5-hectare farm. He keeps sharing his experience on raising healthy and happy chickens on Chicken Scratch The Foundry.