Chickens have been used by humans as an alarm clock since the evolution of both species.Humans keep them as pets in the backyard for commercial and personal purposes. Chickens’ eggs and meat are often used for owners’ profit, which is why their diet is important.If you are wondering if you can feed watermelon to your chickens, then feel free to check out the details below. Chickens can eat watermelon for sure, as it is a great fruit, but it is important to feed them in moderation as watermelon contains a lot of water. There are ample of fresh fruits, nuts, seeds, and fresh vegetables full of nutrients that your chickens can eat to be healthy. But more than often it is asked whether chickens can eat watermelon? Yes, your chickens can eat fresh watermelon and not just the fruit but watermelon seeds, watermelon rinds, watermelon flesh, leaves and vines of watermelon, watermelon soup. This fruit is beneficial during summer, to cool their temperature off.Ripe watermelon and or semi-ripe watermelon is a great source of beta carotene. It helps your birds to cool off the heat. There are many ways for your chickens to cool their body. Your flock flaps wings to tap in the air in the body to cool off. Chickens burrow themselves in the soil to cool off their body. However, all these methods are not sufficient therefore, it is best to feed your chickens with watermelon flesh. It has 90% of water which helps them cool of their body. Besides watermelon flesh, you can feed your chickens with watermelon rinds, leaves and vines. Chickens can eat seeds of watermelon too. Their digestive system is strong which helps them digest seeds easily unlike many other pets like goats, dogs, cats. Feeding your chickens with watermelon helps them in numerous ways. It keeps your flock healthy and the water content on watermelon keeps them cool. The nutrients in watermelon help them remain stress-free which helps in increased egg production and better quality of eggs. You should feed watermelon to your chicks as treats and not as a staple diet. Chickens should eat melon in moderation. So one small melon should be shared between seven to eight chicks. If they are extremely thirsty or dehydrated then another small one can be fed. But ensure that watermelons are treats for chicks and not their regular diet. They get bored easily so feeding them watermelons in moderation keeps their taste bud excited. Always remember the following while feeding your chicken with watermelon.Give them the fresh fruit, cut it into small pieces, remove the hard skin or rind of the fruit, give them in moderation to your chickens and not as a diet or alternative for water, never serve rotten watermelon to your chickens, seeds should only be fed to adult chickens and not baby chickens.If you enjoyed this article, you can also check out these can chickens eat strawberries and can chickens eat rice.Can chickens eat watermelon rind?Chickens can eat watermelon rind as they peck it off from the fruits. It has many nutrients for their health. However, rinds are hard and many a time your flock will leave them. Adult birds eat rinds, the baby chick cannot eat rinds. For baby chicks to eat rind you will have to cut the rind into small pieces. Your birds start eating the rind once they have finished eating flesh. After that, they start picking on the seeds. Many a time they may eat only a small portion of rind and leave the rest because either they get bored of it or they get tired of eating something that hard. It is better for you to cut these rind into small pieces for better digestionIt is safe and healthy to feed your chicken the whole watermelon which includes seeds, rind, flesh, leaves, vines from the watermelon plant as a healthy treat. If you have a watermelon plant in your backyard you can feed your chicken with the eaves and vines too of the plant of watermelon. Chickens love the flesh part of the watermelon. It is better to peel or remove the rind of the watermelon while feeding them to your chickens. The removal of hard rind helps in better digestion. Also, while feeding your chickens with watermelon ensure that you cut the watermelon into small pieces, as the large pieces may suffocate your chickens. Therefore, it is important to make sure that this does not happen.How much watermelon should I give my chickens?Watermelon are a great source of water content for your chickens’ body. Watermelon has 90% water content which helps your chicken to cool off and de-stress. This helps them in better egg production and better quality of eggs. You should feed this fruit to your chicken to keep them cool and de-stressed. However, you need to remember that chickens get bored very easily so too much of watermelon feeding may get them off this fruit full of nutrients. Therefore, feeding your chickens with watermelon in moderation is always a good idea.Eating watermelon helps your chickens to cool down. It keeps them healthy and active while maintaining their water content level. That does not mean that you can feed the watermelon flesh instead of ware as a replacement. It is just a treat and cannot be used as an alternative to water. As human beings watermelon helps us cool off but still we need water to survive so goes for your chickens. Chickens eat it with joy but they need water to survive and thrive. Chickens love watermelon flesh. It is a treat that they wait for once they get the taste of it.imageChickens have a great liking for fruits like watermelon.)At what age can you feed chickens watermelon?Chickens eat watermelon at any age. You can feed them this fruit, which is full of nutrients right after they are five weeks born till they are old. They have strong digestion unlike human beings and other pets, which helps them to digest even the rind and the seeds of this fruit. However, do not feed rind to your baby chicks as rinds are hard and it difficult to eat especially for baby chicks.Baby chicks can eat the watermelon flesh easily but avoid giving them the watermelon seeds as that they may not be able to chew properly and may choke on the seeds. If you wish to serve watermelon rind to the baby chicks always remember to cut it into small pieces for them to eat and digest. For adult chickens, you can give them the rind into pieces or whole. It is convenient for them to eat the pieces of rind than the whole rind.Can chickens eat watermelon seeds?Chickens eat watermelon seeds with joy. It is a treat for their taste buds. Adult Chickens have a strong digestive system that allows them to eat watermelon seeds. You can give watermelons to adult chickens and you will see them eating the whole watermelon from flesh to seeds to rind. This fruit is full of nutrients for your chickens. It helps them grow, cool off their body and destress, which further allows them to lay good quality eggs.Always keep the watermelon serving in moderation while feeding your chickens. Too much of watermelon has a negative impact on chickens. Their stool may become run because of a high level of water content. This doesn’t mean that your chicken is sick but it is better to be careful while feeding your chicken with too much of watermelon. Also, ensure that while feeding watermelon to your chicken you do not feed them rotten watermelon as that will make them sick because rotten watermelon attracts pests. Chickens nibble on these pests and insects while eating the rotten watermelon which can make them very sick. However, you should avoid giving watermelon seeds to the baby chick. Their digestive system is not fully grown to eat and digest seeds. While feeding the baby chickens treat them with watermelon flesh and not the seeds. Feeding them watermelon seeds may choke them to death if not handled and or observed properly.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Can chickens eat watermelon? Fresh melon can be your birdie’s treat!, then why not take a look at Birds of Pennsylvania: Explore curious facts on birds for kids, or Are there snakes in Alaska? The curious question answered!
Chickens have been used by humans as an alarm clock since the evolution of both species.
