Does fruit really stop their egg laying?

[SpringChickens]

I would guess that if you started feeding your birds an ALL fruit diet, that they would stop laying because they couldn't get enough protein. Fruit as an occasional treat is fine.

 

[chicknmania]

That's the craziest thing I've ever heard of! In the wild, fruit would certainly be part of a chicken's diet...why would it affect their egg laying??? Ours eat whatever extra fruit we want to get rid of, and they love watermelon in the summer! And we NEVER get any raspberries off our bushes anymore.

Ditto with everyone else, I'd say that's a myth. Maybe they mean if you feed them a whole lot of fruit???? idk..

 

[Nostalchic]

If you fed a LOT of fruit and they ate it in preference to their layer (which I guess I could see happening - they LOVE fruit) they might not get enough protein to sustain good production. If they were able to choose what to eat, bugs and whatnot, I suspect they would balance their diets nicely, but if they didn't have access to other foods than fruit... well, sure. Maybe that's where this comes from? My hens get quite a bit of fruit, though, especially if you consider tomatoes in the summer, and it hasn't affected their egg production as far as I can tell.

 

[annep]

I fed my old girls watermellon rinds all the time, and they loved them..Never saw a drop in their production..

 

[jojo54]

I'm sure its a myth or we would never have any eggs. My girls get lots of fruit in the produce we get from the store. They love grapes, melons, berries, dragonfruit, etc. We also cook up apples all the time in their hot meals. Plus there are fruit trees in their run so they peck at plums, etc that fall off the trees. I would say they have more days that they have fruit than days that they don't get any.

 

[hensonly]

I read in a book about raising chickens that apples and pears would slow the laying...my hens also get lots of fruit, and my three year old sex links are still laying. Though there is some debate over the small amount of arsenic in apple seeds. My thought is that this is an old wives tale, maybe started because the time of year when free ranging farm flocks could get fruit that fell off the trees coincided with the time that hens start slowing down for the winter. That's my thought, anyway.

I say, give 'em all you want - they love it.

 

[DanEP]

Only problem I've ever had with watermelon is when they wipe their beaks of on my shoes.

 

[SassyKat6181]

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[mychookschick]

Mine eat all of the leftover household fruits! The only thing that I refuse to give them is citrus fruits... I just have heard that that is bad for them.

 

[chicknmania]

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