Fruit stops egg production?

[Farmer Kitty]

My hens have just started laying but when I fed them fruit the other day I received more eggs.

As for feeding flax seed and making eggs healthier they are doing it. There was an article in Prevention about it. I'm going to check into it some more.

 

[Heidi]

I have a large apple tree and the coop & fenced in area is 1/2 way under it. They eat apples that fall from the tree from August until October almost daily. My 15 chickens lay about a dozen a day and are fluffy healthy looking things.

 

[cheepchicks]

We have apples, grapes, walnuts & persimmons....my chickens partake of all of the above. They still lay eggs.

 

[NewGuineaChooks]

I called Meyer Hatchery today to ask them about their statement. (ordered a 2008 catalog too).
They firmly stand by the 'no fruit' rule, although they couldn't tell me where they got their information from. Also couldn't tell me whether for such purposes, they consider tomatoes to be a fruit.

Curious.

Our chickies will still get to eat everything they've always eaten.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

I'm wondering if it is certin fruits and they said all fruits to cover themselves legally. I talked with a neighbor who has had chickens for a few years and asked her about it and there was a pause. Then she said she bet that's why her chickens are down to two eggs a day. She has been feeding them peach trimmings. She said that they really slacked off about the sametime she started feeding the peach trimmings. She has also fed apple and tomatoes in the past with no problems so didn't think anything of peaches.

 

[ChixDigMe]

The only reason I buy fruit is for the ladies. Bananas and grapes, and sometimes plums or cherry tomatoes. I want to try some melon this weekend.

They're barely 20 weeks and I'm getting pullet eggs almost every day. They're getting bigger and a little more consistent.

But I don't give them these treats every day. Usually only days that I am able to let them out to play. They get their layer feed and plenty of scratch every day though.

 

[pricem11]

I've always avoided giving my parrots peach pits, apple seeds, pear seeds, etc. because of the cyanide. It did occur to me that maybe the hydrocyanic acid (cyanide) in peach pits, pear seeds, etc. had something to do with Meyer's recommendation.

I don't think it's the case though, since I read that in some parts of the world they add cassava flour to poultry feed (sometimes in pretty large amounts), and cassava is much higher in cyanide. I found a study that said it didn't have any effect on egg production: http://www.fao.org/Wairdocs/ILRI/x5458E/x5458e06.htm

It seems they process the cassava to reduce the cyanide content, but it's still tolerated at a level I think would be higher than most fruit sources (i.e. peach peelings, etc.).

 

[NewGuineaChooks]

That's fascinating about the cassava flour in feed. Where I grew up there was a lot of cassava (one of the less toxic kinds), but it had to be washed and boiled and the water drained to make it safe to eat.

 

[dlhunicorn]

Spot on re the seeds... one must also be careful to peel the fruit if it is bought from a store (many pesticides do not wah off) as birds are more sensitive to this than mammals. That being said the whole fruit thing (not to give) as far as I am concerned is totally unfounded unless you give them so much that they reduce their intake of their feed .

 

[2mnypets]

I could understand if McMurray had stated something along the lines of why they stand by the "no fruit" for chickens. If Cyanide is the reason or partial reason, then the public has a right to this information. I feed my chickens from my garden and fridge. They love fruit and veggies. Soft ones anyway. Their favorites are tomatoes and watermelon.