Can you feed too much vegetables to chickens ???

[Sonya9]

As long as they have regular chicken feed 24/7 it should be okay especially if you just give them veggies part of the day so they eat some regular feed too.

 

[Percheron chick]

The obvious problems with filling up on vegetables are vitamin/minerals imbalances and protein and Ca deficiencies. Keep the OS out and switch to a high protein game bird feed. Accept the fact that you will have a slight drop in egg production but use the waste. The use of chickens to reduce landfill is invaluable

 

[NatJ]

The original question is from 2009...

I'm sure it's possible for a chicken to be force-fed too many vegetables.
But I think free-choice chicken feed plus free-choice vegetables should be fine.

Treats that are high in fat or salt might taste so good that the chickens will overeat and unbalance their diet, but I do not think that would happen with vegetables. Chickens are fairly good at balancing their own diets when given reasonable options.

 

[Sally PB]

I also have a lot of garden veg/waste, with even more coming on soon. A while ago, I started measuring how much free choice chicken feed I was giving them and noting what was left at the end of the day. I figure if the bowl is empty or nearly so, the treat amount is in line with how much I should give them , ie, spoil them.

I did notice diarrhea after I gave them a cucumber. So now I just give them the cut off ends sliced in half. Yesterday they got the guts of a melon. The poop board poop looked about average this morning. Poop is kind of my barometer on what works for them.

I dried and crumbled some stinging nettle leaves to use this winter, and plan to chunk up and freeze some stuff for future use. Mmmm, apple "sauce" from leftover apple bits on oatmeal... I think that might be a good winter morning treat.

They are spoiling me with fresh eggs. Spoiling them back with treats is the least I can do.