Can chickens eat peanuts and Peanut Butter?

Part by part

• In moderationPeanuts (unsalted)Lisa Steele (via Chewy) recommends unsalted peanuts; Grubbly Farms OK if not salted or sweetened.
• In moderationPeanut butterModeration; can be high in sugar (Grubbly Farms).
• NoMoldy peanutsAflatoxin risk.

Why

Peanuts are one of the crops Merck names for aflatoxin contamination by Aspergillus molds, which damages poultry livers; growing poultry are especially sensitive. University of Kentucky's Urban Poultry publication puts peanuts on its do-not-feed list (no reason given), and The Happy Chicken Coop advises caution. Others (Grubbly Farms, Lisa Steele) treat plain peanuts as a fine protein treat.

Watch out for aflatoxin (in contaminated/moldy peanuts). If a bird may have eaten a lot of it and seems unwell, call a veterinarian who treats poultry.

How to serve peanuts and Peanut Butter

• Plain, unsalted, chopped
• Only fresh, never moldy or stale

Be careful with

• Salted or sweetened peanuts are out
• Aflatoxin can be present without visible mold (Merck, for corn)

And for chicks?

Chewy chick guide (Lisa Steele) lists unsalted peanuts as a treat for baby and adult chickens.

The treat rules for every food

1. 1Scraps are not nutritionally balanced. Letting them displace complete feed can cause nutritional disorders and lower egg production; hens that fill up on treats can run short of calcium and draw it from their bones, weakening shells.
2. 2Never feed moldy, rotten or spoiled food. Molds can produce mycotoxins (e.g., aflatoxin on corn, peanuts, nuts, rice) that harm poultry, and University of Kentucky notes mycotoxins remain even if visible mold is removed. Rotting food can also be a source of Clostridium botulinum (botulism, 'limberneck'). Stale or wilted (not moldy) produce and bread are generally considered fine.
3. 3Avoid very salty, sugary, fatty, fried or heavily processed human food (chips, fast food, candy, heavily salted leftovers). Merck notes salt above about 2% of the diet is usually considered dangerous for poultry, that birds under 21 days old are more susceptible, and that restricted water access makes salt problems worse.
4. 4Provide insoluble grit (granite grit or small stones) whenever chickens eat whole grains, scratch, seeds or forage; birds that can reach the ground usually find their own. Oyster shell is a calcium source, not grit (it is too soft). Birds eating only a complete pelleted feed do not need grit.

All 10 rules · How much feed they need