Can Chickens Eat Pistachios?

Yes, chickens can eat pistachios safely. But, they cannot eat pistachio nut shells. As a chicken owner, you need to remove the hard shells from the pistachio nuts before feeding them.

Ensure your chickens eat pistachio nuts and other nuts in small amounts. Too many nuts can harm your chicken’s gastrointestinal tract and lead to digestive issues. Scroll down further to know more about feeding chickens pistachios.

Are Pistachios Good for Chickens?

Pistachios, like other nuts, are power-packed with healthy fats. It is safe to feed nuts to chickens as long as you do it moderately. Also, while adding nuts to a chicken’s diet, remove the pistachio shells, and break the nuts into smaller pieces. 

Chickens tend to gobble up nuts as you feed them, so feeding chopped nuts is better to prevent choking hazards.

Chickens love nuts. They can safely eat most nuts, such as freshly fallen acorns, roasted peanuts, almonds, pecans, and other nuts. However, you should avoid feeding them raw nuts. 

To encourage your chickens to eat pistachios, you can throw these in small quantities to your backyard chickens to peck upon.

Pistachios have fantastic health benefits. A few of these benefits are mentioned below:

Health Benefits of Pistachios

• Packed with Nutrition

Pistachios are packed with healthy nutrition. One ounce serving of these nuts delivers:

• 3gm of fiber
• 6gm of protein
• 13gm of fat
• 8gm of carbohydrates

Apart from what was mentioned above, these nuts also have a lot of different minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants. These include potassium, phosphorus, Vitamin B6, Thiamine, Copper, Manganese, etc.

• Important Source of Vitamin B6

Pistachios are the best source of vitamin B6. This vitamin is essential for chickens as it helps them make neurotransmitters, chemicals carrying signals between nerve cells. These neurotransmitters are necessary for proper brain functioning.

• Excellent Sources of Vitamin E

Pistachios are excellent sources of vitamin E. This vitamin is a potent lipid-soluble antioxidant that maintains the integrity of mucosa and skin. Vitamin E also helps fight free radical damage.

• Boosts the Quality of Eggs and Quantity of Egg Production

When fed in small quantities, pistachios may enhance the eggshell quality of laying hens. They need at least 16% protein from their daily diet, and nuts serve as a healthy treat for such hens. Eating nuts in moderate quantities may boost their egg production.

Having said so, too many treats in the form of nuts may adversely affect their bodies. Nuts are high in fats. This nutritious treat may harm their digestive system when fed in large quantities. 

Can Chickens Eat Pistachio Shells?

No, they can’t. Pistachio shells are pretty hard. Even though chickens have gizzards, they should not be fed pistachio shells. These have little to no nutrition. Pistachio shells may cause stomach discomfort when fed to chickens. 

You should take the shells off, discard them, and feed the inner soft pistachio nut to your chickens.

Can Chickens Eat Salted Pistachios?

No, they can’t. Many chicken owners believe that heavily salted food can kill chickens. They do not need too much salt in their diets.

As pistachio nuts and most nuts are available salted, it is better to ensure that you feed plain nuts to your flock. You can also wash salted nuts before feeding them. 

After eating too much salt, chickens tend to drink a lot of water, resulting in bloating or other digestive issues. This healthy treat should be fed in moderation and without added salt or sugar.

How to Feed Pistachios to Chickens?

Pistachios should be served to chickens after removing the hard outer shells. Although chickens eat nuts, they cannot remove the hard outer shells of some nuts on their own. They may just peck on the nut and leave it.

If you want to feed nuts to your chickens, remove the outer pistachio shells and break the nuts into smaller pieces before serving them. You can hand crush the nuts before serving them.

You can feed them this tasty treat once or twice a week in-between meals or by adding it to kitchen and veggie scraps to make a great treat.

Also, you can feed these healthy nuts to them for their various health benefits by adding chopped nuts to their diet.

What Foods Can Chickens Not Eat?

While most foods are safe for chickens, there is a list of certain foods that should be avoided for chickens:

• Raw peanuts
• Sugary or salty foods
• Chocolates

• Dried or raw beans
• Moldy fruits or vegetables
• Certain parts of avocado
• Green potatoes or green tomatoes

All these foods should be avoided as they are highly toxic.

Conclusion

Chickens can safely eat pistachios, but the pistachio shells should be removed. Chickens can eat most nuts when fed in small amounts. Nuts have healthy fats and prove to be a great treat for your flock. 

Add nuts like almonds, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, etc., to chickens’ feed occasionally.