will certain treats stop hens from laying?

[brandyb]

I feed my hens laying pellets but I also give them treats everyday (broccoli, squash, carrots, etc), they have slacked off a little on their laying. Will any foods cause them to not lay as often? If so what are they? Thank you.

 

[Kittymomma]

Eggs are high in protien and it takes protien to make them. It's not so much about what treats you are feeding as it is how much of their diet is made up of treats. What happens is that their total protien consumption drops and they can't make eggs and maintain themselves so they don't make as many eggs. There are lots of other important parts to their diets besides protien, but that is a main one and fairly easy to understand. Also, sometimes they slow down because of weather, hours or daylight, stress, molting, etc...... If you think it's diet based ease up on the treats and/or switch them to a higher protien feed.

ETA: Mine freerange during the day and sometimes when they "slow down" it's because somebody is hiding a nest.

 

[txchickie]

Some say yes....some say no.


I say no.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I agree. I try to keep the treats to a minimum so they are depending on their layer feed and their free ranging for most of their diet.

 

[UnkleMacsChickenShack]

We get the scrap bucket from Mc Donalds 5 days a week ...It has a lot of patties and sausage and scrambled eggs meat type stuff...I also get left over salads when they expire ...I mix this all in with a 15 % layer and man I get eggs like crazy...nice solid eggs never have a problem with things like soft eggs and stuff...They also get a lot of grazing time in the pasture so they get nice green grass 3 to 4 times a week...Pics to come soon...