All she does is eat! At least It is what it looks like! HELP!!!

[Jesseschickens]

My red sex link was a big peep and now It looks like all she does is eat! her crop is really big but it is soft. Should I be worried about her or not. She drinks water and Eats Im not sure if she lays eggs I think she does but it is hard to tell with 16 hens. She acts like she did when she was a chook always curious (hense the reason her name is Curious) which is normal for her, but she is just plain fat and I dont Know what to do.

 

[paddock36]

My chickens eat all the time too and if they are free ranging and see me with a bucket they come running even if they were just fed. I give them layer crumbles and limited cracked corn, but they always want more corn. Sounds normal to me.

 

[Jesseschickens]

Quote:
So there is no reason to worry?

 

[galanie]

I doubt there's anything to worry about. One of my buff orps is like that. She is larger than the rest and a real pig at the trough, always has had a really healthy appetite. She started laying a few days later than the other girls but her eggs are the biggest and she lays just as often.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Sounds normal to me. Some chickens are just like some people.

 

[axion_lotus]

Based on prior research, birds don't have an "I'm full" button in their brains like we do. (Horses don't either. It's why they get colic and founder if they eat too much.) So they'll just keep eating if there's a lot of leftover food.

I'm not really sure what you can do about her voracious appetite, but you can cut down on some of the fattier ingredients in your chickens' feed.

According to the book on "How to Raise Chickens" by Christine Heinrichs, it says that to keep your birds from becoming too fat, (an overweight chicken will be sluggish and unhealthy, and at risk of heart and circulatory problems), "gradually reduce the amount of grain or other carbohydrates in their diet." Try using a feed that has less of these and mix some on with their normal feed, and then gradually switch over to the new feed. Even if your hen is eating too much, she won't do as much damage to her health as she would if she were gorging on fattier rations.

 

[Fred's Hens]

She should be laying at least six eggs a week, or virtually everyday. I'd put her in separate pen for a couple days. I do this if I suspect a hen isn't laying. If she lays an egg? Back she goes. If she doesn't lay, you know you have an issue. A hen that eats and eats, but doesn't lay.