Will apples hurt cows

Answer 1

Apples should only be fed as a treat. Apples are quite high in starch and sugars which can induce bloat. Also, since cattle like swallowing feed whole and cannot bite an apple in half nor chew it like a horse would, they can choke on them causing the animal to suffocate and die. Other concerns in the past have been about cattle coming down with what is called ruminal parakeratosis, which is another term for damage and clumping of the ruminal epithelium, which can cause death in cattle. This condition is only from those animals that have been fed a high-apple diet, not from those that have been fed apples as a treat now and then. Little research, however, has been done in the feeding of apples to cattle, so precaution must be taken when feeding this fruit to ruminants.

Apples can actually be fed to cattle as a replacement to corn. They are cheaper to buy by the ton, even though apples are lower in energy (TDN) and higher in crude fibre (CF) than corn is. Check out the related link below for more info.

Answer 2

If fed whole, yes. And if they eat too much, yes. But chopped up and fed in moderation, no.