Can you over feed?

[wachicklady]

can you over feed your chickens that they won’t lay eggs? I have 13 chickens and get 5 eggs a day.

my chickens:
2 that are 6 years - one of them lay
2 that are 4 years - one of them lay
5 that are 18 months - three of them lay
4 that are 20+ weeks - they just started laying.


they have grandpa feeders in the Coops, scratch and peck spread each morning in the chicken yard and mealworms in the morning with plenty of water.

Hmm…

 

[rosemarythyme]

Most birds will self regulate food intake just fine. Depending on how many treats you offer you can overtreating though. How much in mealworms do you offer them?

 

[GC-Raptor]

can you over feed your chickens that they won’t lay eggs? I have 13 chickens and get 5 eggs a day.

my chickens:
2 that are 6 years - one of them lay
2 that are 4 years - one of them lay
5 that are 18 months - three of them lay
4 that are 20+ weeks - they just started laying.

Egg count sounds right to me. The hens do slow down egg production as they age.
From Purinamills.com.

During summer heat they can lay less because they eat less feed.
I keep up egg production by giving them a treat of wet mash made with cold water and chicken feed when temps go above 80 F.
I give a quarter cup of feed per chicken before adding water and add an equal amount of cold water and serve in a shady spot early afternoon.

I replace a treat of Scratch Grains with the wet mash during summer heat.
Try replacing the mealworms with a wet mash.
GC

 

[LaFleche]

Depending on the breed of chickens and the kind of feed offered, you sure can overfeed, as some breeds (dual purpose or meat birds) tend to stuff themselves silly if given the opportunity.

 

[3KillerBs]

Most chickens won't overeat from their balanced pellet/crumble when free-fed.

They may imbalance their diet if offered more than a very small quantity of fatty or empty-carb treats by eating those instead of a nutritious feed.

 

[Folly's place]

Cornishx chicks should be on a restricted calorie diet their second month, nothing to do with feeding normal chickens like yours.
Birds fed a whole grain diet can get into trouble if individuals pick out the best tasting seeds and leave the rest. And too many other goodies can be a problem too.
Mary

 

[Al Gerhart]

As everyone has said, short of feeding too many treats the birds will do fine with pellets or crumbles available 24/7. The problem with too many treats is that your egg production might suffer as the commercial feed is balanced for growing or egg production and the treats are going to be a lot more tasty than the commercial feed. A quarter pound of feed per day per laying hen is a good average. Ignore the roosters if there are any as they eat little.

 

[Kiki]

can you over feed your chickens that they won’t lay eggs? I have 13 chickens and get 5 eggs a day.

my chickens:
2 that are 6 years - one of them lay
2 that are 4 years - one of them lay
5 that are 18 months - three of them lay
4 that are 20+ weeks - they just started laying.


they have grandpa feeders in the Coops, scratch and peck spread each morning in the chicken yard and mealworms in the morning with plenty of water.

Hmm…

Yes you can over feed.
You should not be feeding scratch or mealworms daily.
Offer it once a week if you must and then no more than one tablespoon worth per bird.

Every time you feed your birds something besides the complete balanced poultry feed You are taking away from them getting a balanced diet which will cause problems down the road.

 

[wachicklady]

Thank you for this advice and reminder! So appreciative.

 

[wachicklady]

As everyone has said, short of feeding too many treats the birds will do fine with pellets or crumbles available 24/7. The problem with too many treats is that your egg production might suffer as the commercial feed is balanced for growing or egg production and the treats are going to be a lot more tasty than the commercial feed. A quarter pound of feed per day per laying hen is a good average. Ignore the roosters if there are any as they eat little.

This is exactly what we have in our two coops. Thank you for your help.