Peanuts are a delicious treat for humans and animals, especially chickens. Your flock will go crazy over peanut treats. It is entirely okay to feed peanuts to chickens, so long as it is done in moderation and the peanuts have not been covered in any added oils, salts, kinds of butter, or seasonings.
Will Chickens Want to Eat Peanuts?
Chickens will definitely be interested in any peanuts you offer them. Peanuts have a good flavor, are high in protein and fat, very high in calories, and they are the perfect bite-sized snack for nearly all chickens.
Chickens will love the texture of the crunch, the flavor, and the size of the peanut. If you have conditioned your chickens to expect delicious foods from you, they will likely gobble up all of the peanuts just as fast as you can throw them!
The Peanut Nutrition Profile
One cup of peanuts (146 grams) is:
- 828 calories
- 24 grams of carbohydrates
- 6 grams of sugar
- 12 grams of fiber
- 72 grams of fat
- 38 grams of protein
- 1,029 milligrams of potassium
- 39.65 milligrams of magnesium
- 13 milligrams of calcium
- 6.66 milligrams of iron
The Specific Nutrition Needs of a Chicken
| Nutrition Item | Amount Present in a Cup of Peanuts | How Much a Chicken Needs Per Day |
| Protein | 38 grams | 17 grams, for a light breed hen, or 23 grams for growing broilers |
| Fat | 72 grams | 6 grams |
| Fiber | 12 grams | 3 grams |
Is It Safe for Chickens to Eat Peanuts?
As you can see, peanuts are extremely dense in the nutrients that chickens need. If you have a deficient chicken, providing a handful of peanuts could quickly boost their nutrient intake.
Still, you don’t want to feed your chickens peanuts too often because they are so dense. This nutrient density can cause numerous issues for the chicken, including heart issues, pressure sores, egg boundness, and obesity in general. Several of these ailments are fatal, so keep your treat-giving in check when tossing snacks outside.
Of course, remember that this nutrition profile I just shared with you is about a cup of peanuts. If you’re tossing a handful of them out to a whale flock of chickens, and not just one chicken, the risks of overfeeding significantly drop, making peanuts a more ideal treat that is mostly good for them, delicious, fun, and easy to feed to them. Enjoy!