Too much produce?

[camorrow]

So the question is can you give your chickens too much fresh produce? Right now we are mostly blending various fruits and vegetables into kind of a purée, so it’s easy to eat and not a lot to break down in terms of increasing a risk for an infected crop. On average, it’s maybe a couple of tablespoons per chicken. They do also get some things that they can pack at: kale, collard greens, cauliflower, etc.

The type of produce in the mix can vary widely, from miscellaneous greens to beets to grapes to apples and carrots and so on. We do try to watch extra sugar from the fruits. Two groups of chickens get small amounts of free range time along with their regular feed. A third group gets more extensive free range time, as well as their regular feed.

And along with this general topic, what’s the real deal with citrus? We’ve seen things that say it’s fine and others that say not to give it.

 

[3KillerBs]

I personally find that when I toss produce trimmings and garden waste into the run the chickens eat an appropriate amount and the rest ends up mingling with the litter.

How old are the chickens in question and how many do you have?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

ANYTHING can be fed to excess. Fruits and veggies are mostly water, so its hard to imbalance a diet with an offering of them, but not impossible, when compared to concentrated nutritional sources like grains, seeds, dehydrated animal proteins, etc. That said, WHICH produce they are being given determines which dietary concerns you need to be alert to. Green leafy cruciferous veggies tend to be high in oxalates, which have a binding effect on calcium (spniach, kale, chard, etc) and are also high in sulphur content. Others have high tannin concentrations - particularly in the peels (grapes, apples), which can reduce appetite, reduce nutrient absorption (imagine if all your food tasted like you were sucking on a tea bag...).

There isn't a "one size fits all" answer.
What "regular feed" are they getting? Do they have grit available to them at all times? Those will help avoid impacted crops - that and ready sources of fresh clean water.

Re: Citrus? There are a few studies showing positive results with citrus peel in small quantity (1-2%) as part of feed. Others doing the same with dried orange (flesh) pulp, again small quantities. Usually with broilers, so those studies have short time frames, typcially concerned with feed conversion rates and overall rate of weight gain. Whether those are applicable to all citrus or not???

 

[3KillerBs]

And along with this general topic, what’s the real deal with citrus? We’ve seen things that say it’s fine and others that say not to give it.

When I throw a tired orange into the run they may or may not peck at it.

When the bugs get it they'll eat the bugs.

 

[3KillerBs]

Fruits and veggies are mostly water, so its hard to imbalance a diet with an offering of them, but not impossible,

It's just opinion without even anecdotal observations to back it up, but I think that it would be harder to imbalance with fruits and vegetables presented in their natural form so that the chickens had to peck them up than if mashed, pureed, pulverized, minced, or otherwise processed into something that doesn't much resemble anything chickens eat in nature.