I've discovered recently that laying hens should not eat any kind of citrus, not even the leaves. I had been told this earlier, but had read on the internet (and you KNOW everything on the internet is true!) that this was an old wives tale and that a lot of chicken feed actually has citrus in it. Well, my chickens have been snacking on our orange and lemon tree leaves and their laying has been drastically reduced. We're talking 1 egg a day, if we're lucky. So this morning I went out and bought some more chicken wire and put a little fence around the trees to keep those birds away. And guess what? We've already gotten 2 eggs today! I'm hoping by the end of the week we can be up to 4-5 eggs a day.
I have to say, I didn't think we could get and more white trash, but here we are. I felt a little bad about fencing this tree because this is where they would take refuge from the heat. But not to worry, these little hens are resourceful. They've found a new shady spot as you can see.
They've even started snacking on the little shrub, which is actually fine by me. Come fall, this plant loses all it's leaves and it's quite messy. Does that make me lazy, having my hens do the yard work for me?
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