Apples inhibit egg-laying??????

[Stefrobrts]

Hmm, my hens are in the orchard and they have been picking at the windfall apples and pears, and I admit they have not started up laying regular again since the heat wave/moulting finished up. Maybe there's something to it. This is our first full year. I guess I'll have to see if I have a slowdown every year around this time - I might have to make a second chicken yard to move them to in the fall. Maybe I need to get a pig and rotate the pig into the orchard in the fall, and rotate the chickens out!

I was more concerned about them eating the windfall that sits on the ground and ferments a little. I might end up with drunken chickens!

 

[SunnyDawn]

Excess can be judged by how much feed they eat as well. I give my girls bits of fruit all the time but they still go through a LOT of feed and they are still laying really well! I assume they are getting plenty of protein if they are eating a lot of the Layena.
BTW - the people at my feed store don't like it when I supplement anything that cuts down on the amount of feed I buy. They would prefer it if I quit letting my girls free-range every day!
I did have a problem with feeding them citrus though. They were still laying well but I noticed a little difference in the flavor of their eggs. My Hubby thinks it was my imagination but his taste buds aren't very sensitive.
Anyone else have any similar experiences? They love clementines but I stopped giving them any.

 

[Oopoo]

My girls eat apples occasionally, but I do try to keep the seeds away from them. They contain cyanide and since chickens grind up their food this would release it once it's in their stomach. My dog eats the whole thing but the seeds come out unscathed.

 

[Alicia Manolas]

Old style apples in large amounts inhibit laying in my experience, I've done some experiments years ago. I too was taught the old 'chicken keepers secret knowledge' type thing by my Mentor and had to test it! Revisiting it as an adult, I noticed modern apple types didnt inhibit as much as old breeds of apples?

I have no idea what enzyme or naturally occurring chemical there is in apples that borderline OD-ing a hen on consumption of will result in painless stoppage of egg production... but I have noted it works.

I've currently got an avian training student with a poorly bred bantam, that keeps struggling to lay eggs to big for it. She wants to try this before looking at surgical intervention or implants, so we will see how it goes.

 

[Alicia Manolas]

Excess can be judged by how much feed they eat as well. I give my girls bits of fruit all the time but they still go through a LOT of feed and they are still laying really well! I assume they are getting plenty of protein if they are eating a lot of the Layena.
BTW - the people at my feed store don't like it when I supplement anything that cuts down on the amount of feed I buy. They would prefer it if I quit letting my girls free-range every day!
I did have a problem with feeding them citrus though. They were still laying well but I noticed a little difference in the flavor of their eggs. My Hubby thinks it was my imagination but his taste buds aren't very sensitive.
Anyone else have any similar experiences? They love clementines but I stopped giving them any.

Yes, it's a well known old 'secret chicken keepers trick' lol, hundreds of years old to DIY lemon chicken by adding lemon to feed the week before slaughter. The reality is citrus has bleed through effect on all things poultry, the more you feed, the more it bleeds through.

Hope this helps assure you, that you are definately not imagining things!