Daily hanging cabbage - too much???

[Cassondra53]

Hello friends!!
I read the BYC boredom buster recommendations and decided to try the hanging cabbage trick —- wow, it’s a huge success! My 5 ladies play tether all all day! They go through an entire cabbage in one day and I am wondering if I were to give them a small head of cabbage daily, would this be too much? I realize that they might be filling up on cabbage and eating less of their crumble with all of the vitamins and nutrients.
I would love to hear from some of you that do hanging cabbage - is daily ok? How often do you put a new cabbage ball out for your flock?
Thanks so much!!

 

[CHlCKEN]

You don’t want your birds to eat a cabbage daily. It will fill them up, and they won’t want to eat their feed- which is something they need to eat n order to stay healthy, and lay great eggs. Once a week or less is ok. It is a good boredom buster, and they will certainly love it!

 

[henless]

I have 5 hens right now myself. I usually give mine a couple of heads a week, sometimes 3. It really depends on how much greens are available for me to pick for them. They are not able to free range, so only get what I give them. Mine usually last a couple of days. I'm sure once the novelity is over, they won't eat it so fast.

 

[aart]

Non-food boredom busters are better IMO.
Lots of space with some clutter for 'enrichment' and diversion.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[LaFleche]

Whole carrots would be better than cabbage and have the benefit to intensify the egg yolk's colour quite nicely.

Additional wood bark mulch and sand will keep them busy for days on end.

 

[deidreg]

I've been giving my 5 hens a quarter or fifth of a cabbage head for tether ball most days. They do eat all their regular feed, so I think they're getting the nutrition they need, plus extra water.

 

[ZephyrCoveFarms]

My 60 hens devour two heads of cabbage in about five minutes haha.

 

[Cassondra53]

Wow, 60 hens!? That'll keep ya busy! Sounds like heaven on earth!

 

[ZephyrCoveFarms]

Wow, 60 hens!? That'll keep ya busy! Sounds like heaven on earth!

I love my flock...about 40 more 3-4 month olds and four two month olds and five free ranging roosters on top of the hens. I made my DIY 55 gallon waterer two days ago and I’m making two 55 gallon self feeders today.