Vitamin C and egg production

[Colleen1]

My chickies are 2 1/2 years old and I have 7 laying hens (EE'S and Orps). Their egg production has seriously deminished. I have had 2 feed store owners tell me it is due to the fruits and veggies I feed them. They said Vit C is not good for egg production.
I have searched the internet and a cannot find any info supporting this claim. I use the BYC site for my chickies info, and hope you can shed some light regarding feeding my layers Vit C. Thank you for any help you can give me.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Chickens are one creature that can actually make vitamin C in their bodies if they are healthy enough. This is not to say that a sick or stressed chicken wouldn't benefit from a bit extra vitamin c in their diet, but they don't need vitamin c supplements added. I would however, avoid feeding citrus fruits to your birds, but other fruits and veggies are good for them and shouldn't cause a drop in eggs. I have never heard of too much vitamin C causing a drop in egg production, but anything is possible.

It is best to keep the goodies and such down to 10% of the diet so that the birds get much of their needs from their feed which has all they need for healthy lives. Especially during these hot summer months when chickens don't eat a whole lot to begin with.

Egg production can drop for many reasons, hot summer days, cold winter days, health issues like worms, Coccidiosis, mites, respiratory infections/ailments, going without water for long periods...just about anything that is draining to the body.

Good luck with your flock and welcome to ours!

 

[drumstick diva]

When I started on BYC some years back, I recall some folks saying that too much fruit caused their birds to stop laying. I don't know if that is true or not but, as 2Crows points out, too many treats are not a good thing

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC - you have some great advice already so I'll just say hello!

All the best
CT

 

[Athaid]

Cya around!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!