Molasses and Chickens

[raph]

i have a bag of feed with the molasses on it and at the time i didn't know if it was bad for them and on that's night i found out it give them Daria i gave them some pro biotic yogurt straight away.
they all showed no signs or Daria.
Thanks for all the info.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Within reasonable amounts a little molasses isn't going to hurt your birds anymore than it would hurt you. But not a lot of it otherwise you'll get the laxative effect as the earlier poster outlined.

I've yet to find that any amount of fruit will throw a hen off lay.

 

[guia13]

I make my feed from scratch. I have a few different recipes I'm experimenting with, lately on from " garden betty" anyway the only problem with that as some seeds I keep whole while some seeds I grind up .The problem though ithe finer ingredients, like the kelp and the smaller seeds get left behind when they are pecking. So when I feed them I mix everything together with just a teaspoon of molasses thinned with some water. It acts as a binder so the mixture sticks more together and they end up eating all of it. If chickens are given a choice they pick out just what they like and leave the rest behind.

But this has to be fed in a shallow bowl not in a gravity feeder. But like someone said, you use very little, unless you need to use more if they are sick.

 

[jvls1942]

My chickens run free , and they clean up any apple that falls from the tree.. I have seen a whole bunch of them run to an apple that just dropped out of the tree,, funny to watch,,
If my wife wants to bake a pie, she has to pick the apples from the tree,, or else she would have to outrun the flock of chickens for the ones on the ground..

Maybe a diet of just fruit might prohibit egg laying,, but I have never experimented with that, so IDK ..

when we had goats, I would feed them molasses mixed with grain as a milking treat,,
they would practically fight to be the first up on the milking stand,, I believe the molasses made the milk taste better.. some goat milk can have a bitter taste to it,, ours was always nice and sweet ..
of course I never pastured my goats in a weedy area.. they always had good grass and fine hay ..

.......jiminwisc...........

 

[Michael Apple]

Be careful with the molasses, it can cause diarrhea in chickens. It is used to flush toxins out of chickens, like botulism.

X2. Also, too much sugar on a regular basis causes thirst and predisposes birds to intestinal problems. Faulty digestion leads to poor absorption of nutrients, so it would certainly affect egg production.

 

[jvls1942]

Quote: we buy bags of out-dated bread,, sometimes there are sweet rolls and the such in the bag.. my chickens avoid the sugary stuff,, they are not overly fond of donuts either..
the geese absolutely hate sugar..

I was thinking about this thread,, it depends on what you are mixing the molasses with,, maybe it is not the molasses causing the problem ?? maybe the feed or grain is way low in protein to start with..??

 

[Michael Apple]

we buy bags of out-dated bread,, sometimes there are sweet rolls and the such in the bag.. my chickens avoid the sugary stuff,, they are not overly fond of donuts either..
the geese absolutely hate sugar..

I was thinking about this thread,, it depends on what you are mixing the molasses with,, maybe it is not the molasses causing the problem ?? maybe the feed or grain is way low in protein to start with..??

Hence the description of "too much" in regard to sugars. Too little or too much protein certainly presents numerous problems as well.

 

[dewclaw]

interesting theory.. another bit of unsubstantiated advice to add to the abundant list of useless and incorrect material we are bombarded with each day..

Not a theory at all. Case and point..feeding feed with molasses can and WILL reduce egg production in hens
. I did a 8 month trial and the egg production on year old hens (started 2 months after molt) went down to nearly Half. Built the hens up though! Lots of vitamins in molasses.

 

[BlueBaby]

Someone told me that if a hen eats molasses in feed, like sweet feed, they will quit laying. Is that true at all? He said the same thing about fruit, if you feed it to them they will quit laying. I have never heard such a thing.

I think that either that person was joking with you, or they wanted you to give them your molasses and fruit.

 

[GreenMountainEric]

I think the best way to answer this would be- "too much of anything could cause issues".

Molasses is VERY commonly used in commercial hen diets to improve palatability, and increase feed intake. In situations where it is helpful (like hot weather), using it in levels of 3-7% of their feed mix stimulates better eating, and effectively raises egg production.

I'm not sure where the tipping point of good to bad is......but when properly used, Molasses doesn't cause a drop in egg production.