Feeding your chickens can take a bit of work, but if you’re clever about things you can use natures automatic feeder: fruit trees! Chickens love to eat fruit that falls from trees and a few types of fruit can be both easy to raise and plentiful producers for your chickens! On top of being a healthy treat for your chickens that self dispenses, your chickens can also benefit from the shade and cover the trees provide!
Fruit Trees: A Dual Purpose Investment
Fruit trees are a great investment for your yard on their own. I mean who doesn’t want fresh fruit grown right in their backyard!? When you plant them in your chicken run though, you can double up on your investment. Fruit that falls from your trees is easily gobbled up by your chickens while the fruit higher up will be ready for you to harvest as you want it. On top of this chicken poop is a great fertilizer that will help your trees grow better!
This dual purpose, some for you/some for your chickens arrangement doesn’t work with every tree though. You need to plant trees that are all enough that your chickens won’t try and jump up into them to eat the fruit. If your chickens still have all their flight feathers they can jump pretty high with a little wing assist, so take that into consideration too.
Types of Fruit Trees For Chickens
There is an impressive variety of fruit trees that are suitable for your chicken garden. Each has their own benefits, but ultimately it comes down to what is right for your particular garden setup. Here are our top recommendations:
- Apple Trees – Apples are a great starting point. They grow in most zones and bear reasonably large fruit. They come in many different varieties and you can use just about all of them for feeding your birds as well as yourself.
- Apricot Trees – Apricots have a more tender fruit which makes them easy for the chickens to eat when they fall. They’re quire sweet and bloom in early spring, so fruit shows up not long after.
- Cherry Trees – Cherries also come in many varieties and are hearty in most zones, but birds of all types love these, so if your run isn’t netted off there might not be any cherries left for your birds or you.
- Fig Trees- Figs are great if you’re in a more southern climate. Really only hearty to zone 7, they offer a lovely fruit if you can get them to grow well.
- Mulberry Trees – Mulberries are similar to blackberries in appearance, but have their own unique taste. The trees are quite prolific and easily drop their fruit, so these work better to feed your birds than some other trees might.
- Peach Trees – Chickens will eat peaches right down to the pit. They love the large soft fruit if you can grow them. Not all varieties are suited for all climates and you’ll need to check the zones before you plant.
- Pear Trees – Pears grow surprisingly well up to zone 5, but they also have some varieties that can tolerate the colder weather. The fruit that falls from the trees is often soft enough for chickens, but if the fruit falls early it can be quite hard for some time. A great option if you are looking for fruit to can or jar in addition to feeding your flock.
Any of these trees make great additions to your run, but you need to ensure when you plant them that they are sufficiently mature and that their roots are well covered. Chickens can scratch up any exposed roots which can damage the tree if it is too young or while it is getting established. To avoid this we recommend using a chicken safe wood chip covering.
Caring For Your Trees
The trees you plant need some extra attention when you add them to a chicken run. First you need to cut any low branches to that your chickens don’t roost in the trees. Chickens can decimate a young fruit tree and leave it bear, so ensure that the canopy is high enough they won’t kill it while it is getting established. If the fruit tree is not self-fertile you will need to plant others nearby on your yard. If it’s your first foray into trees, make sure you buy from a seller who can help you select the right variety for your zones and tell you if the trees will produce fruit on their own.
Trees with berries or small fruits will need to be netted initially to keep other birds out. Alternatively you can net your whole run or chicken garden which will ensure only you can the chickens get the fruit, but this can be a bit of a hassle in addition to not looking very nice.
If you notice your chickens picking at a young tree, you may need to wrap the base to keep them from stripping the bark. It’s not a common problem but it can happen and if you score a tree all the way around the trunk, it will die.
Keeping up with trees in a chicken run is a small amount of extra labor, but it pays off in reducing the cost to feed your birds and improving the quality of their eggs!
Simple Solutions to Real Challenges
Fruit trees in your chicken run offer a wide array of benefits. They feed you and your birds in addition to helping give your flock shade and cover from predators. While getting a new fruit tree started can take a bit of time and effort, it pays off in so many ways it would be silly not to try. Ultimately, your birds with thank you and that’s more than enough.
Happy Homesteading!