Weird question

[Ninamm]

I was talking to my neighbor and mentioned that we feed greens to our ladies and scratch and laying pellets and she interjected with. "Careful with feeding them too much greens they will stop laying." I was WTH? I have never heard of such a thing and was taken aback by that.

So is that possible? and also what does ASV do to the chickens health wise?


Thanks,
Nina

 

[Valk]

I'm new to chickens this year, but that sounds like malarkey to me. Most greens are packed with calcium, you'd think it would help, not hinder egg laying. We had a friend tell us something similar, except that it was "too many kitchen scraps and they'll stop laying." My mother-in-law feeds her chickens mainly kitchen scraps - and garden greens - and they are all productive layers.

Our chickens love broccoli, beet, chard, and every other kind of greens present in our garden (of course they're not allowed to help themselves). We got our first egg yesterday. I don't know, I could be wrong. Again, I'm new to this, but logic dictates otherwise.

 

[Valk]

Someone who knows what they're talking about should chime in, lol.

 

[Ninamm]

I think my neighbor is a wack job. I have never myself heard this and I have always fed my chickend scraps and with no issues of their laying stopping.

 

[farmgirlroots]

In their natural habitat chickens have all the greens their little heart's desire. Sounds like your neighbor is feeding in to some old wives tale or something.

 

[foreverlearning]

The more greens they eat, the deeper and richer the color of the yolk. In the wild they eat green, bugs, and small animals like rats. Greens will not stop them from laying, however if they eat greens or free range make sure they have free access grit so they can break it up and not get sour crop. I free range mine and have deep orange yolks, I think they taste better.

Explaining the laying process: It is much like a females time of the month... As long as they are healthy it will happen no matter what. You do slow down during winter as they are on a 25 hour schedule instead of a 28 day schedule and most will not lay in the dark. So the loss of daylight hours effects how many can come. You can put light in their coop for extra light hours if you really need the extra eggs in winter. Most report 3-4 eggs a week from hens without extra light. Technically, a molt is not considered being sick but from the bodies point of view it is like being pregnant. They need extra protein to make new feathers, much like we need more to create the baby. For this reason when they go threw a molt they will slow down if not stop laying if not given extra protein to supplement.

Hope this helped.

 

[Den in Penn]

I suppose if greens is all they eat then they could have a protein deficiency. Egg production, being mostly protein, could then suffer from lack of material. If you free range or feed them scraps they will get some protein rich foods.

 

[Ninamm]

My girls get pellets and scratch and scraps and ears of corn too. they e out from 6am to 8pm, free range in an area that has dirt and shade. they aremost definaely happy chickens.

We might put a timer on the light in the coop for the winter and also an automatic door opener too.

 

[upthecreek]

Some people don't know what to say at times so they just blabber whatever words comes out of their mouth .......... have you ever noticed certain people have an answer for everything ? Their major in college was "all of the above" .

Shannon

 

[cravenchx]

Sometimes you just have to say "Is that right" and go on.