[johnfh]

Is it true or is an old wives tale that keeping your chooks a little hungry increases their egg production  whilst giving them too much food makes them lazy and lay less?  Your expreiences and advice welcome.

[joyfull]

layers feed should always be available however feeding too many treats can make chickens fat and fat chickens are supposed to lay. Layers pellets/mash though contains all the essential minerals and vitamins to help your hens lay eggs 

[Lindeggs]

This is an old wive's (or husband's) tale.  If it was true, all the commercial operations would be keeping their laying hens hungry.  But they're not - they provide them with an all-they-can-eat balanced diet.  Proper, balanced nutrition is the best way to get a hen to lay.

The only way I can think that there would be any truth in this myth would be if a hen was confined and over-fed on inappropriate food, making her obese.  An active hen with a balanced diet will not be overweight.

If given the opportunity a hen will balance her own nutrition by taking just as much as she needs of a variety of foods.  But if (for example) her food is very high in fat but low in protein, she will keep eating it until she gets all the protein she needs.  As a result she will get far too much fat in her diet, causing a variety of health problems.

So give your chickens lots of good, healthy food and you will get lots of good, healthy eggs.