Such a thing as too much left overs from the garden

[motorboat]

My chickens have been eating left over cucumbers, tomatoes, squash for a month or more. Is that a bad thing? They get a little scratch once a day and some BOSS 2-3 times a week but they really have been eating a lot of vegetables. Not sure how nutritious vegetables are for laying hens.

 

[donrae]

Mine get all my scraps. This time of year the get lots of squash, later on they'll get salsa trimmings and peaches, etc. Some folks will say too much veggies will cut back the amount of protein they get. I've never had any issues I could trace back to feeding an abundance of veggies. My hens have glossy feathers, area active, no parasites or diseases and lay like crazy. I guess you'll just have to keep an eye on your flock and see how things go.

I know some folks get really hung up on the percentage of protein a laying hen needs, and I do understand the basis behind that. But to me, restricting my hens' veggie intake would be akin to telling my teenage boy he couldn't have an apple, because then he wouldn't have had enough protein for the day. Just doesn't make sense to me. Then again, I don't feed the lower protein layer feed, mine is more in the 20% range, so I have leeway to add veggies in and still have good protein intake.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Mine get all my scraps. This time of year the get lots of squash, later on they'll get salsa trimmings and peaches, etc. Some folks will say too much veggies will cut back the amount of protein they get. I've never had any issues I could trace back to feeding an abundance of veggies. My hens have glossy feathers, area active, no parasites or diseases and lay like crazy. I guess you'll just have to keep an eye on your flock and see how things go.

I know some folks get really hung up on the percentage of protein a laying hen needs, and I do understand the basis behind that. But to me, restricting my hens' veggie intake would be akin to telling my teenage boy he couldn't have an apple, because then he wouldn't have had enough protein for the day. Just doesn't make sense to me. Then again, I don't feed the lower protein layer feed, mine is more in the 20% range, so I have leeway to add veggies in and still have good protein intake.

X 2 - another advantage to using higher protein feed.