Am I overfeeding my chickens?

[Young Sauterelle]

Hi, all,
So my neighbor (who does not have chickens) and I were chatting, and he happened to state "your chickens are fat" which got me thinking "am I unwittingly contributing to the epidemic of chicken obesity?" They are probably 7-8 month old laying hens, one BO and one sussex...how much should I be feeding them? Up to this point, I had been giving them free-choice Layena pellets, in addition to some greens, fruit, bugs, etc as snacks, maybe once or twice a day. Should I be giving a more strictly measured diet? I have heard that laying hens can stop producing as well if they get too fat, but I don't really know how to evaluate the fatness of my birds. Is there a reliable way to check to see see if they are carrying extra weight?
Thanks!
YS

 

[hcammack]

Your feeding them the way that all chickens should be fed they are very lucky maybe you should tell your neighbor the chickens he/she has been seeing are skinny probably leghorns or something. Always feed free choice just don't give to many treats.

Henry

 

[Jeeper1540]

i was showing pictures to someone and they claimed that this one was ugly: (my favorite chicken)

And this one is is fat

Now i know the second one is a little fat but she is a buff orp and they are supposed to be big.
I feed them all they want and other than the buff orps, they aren't that big. i also give them veggies alot

 

[organicchef]

Your Chicks are beautiful!! Neighbors....you gotta love em!!!

 

[toletiquesbysam]

They don't look fat, maybe that neighbor is not feeding theirs enough! I offer mine 24/7 layena pellets and every morning they get cracked corn/boss and at night if I have any table scraps they get those too!

 

[elmo]

Don't you just love it when people who don't have chickens give advice to people who do? It's right up there on my list of favorite things along with people who don't have children giving me parenting advice.

 

[kateseidel]

Well, they are not as attractive as *MY* chickens, but they are pretty sweet (and not too fat as far as I can tell).

 

[lisa new chickens]

This cleared up my question, if i was feeding mine too much..Freechoice!

 

[teach1rusl]

to your neighbor! Type of chicken will make a difference in appearing "fat." My girls all eat free choice crumbles, whatever they can get from the yard in the way of grass and bugs, a little scratch each morning, and a few scraps when I have them, plus fruits or veggies. My EE looks quite lean and compact. My BO looks like big ole fluffy butt (which she is). The others fall somewhere in between. They're all healthy girls who are good layers. You're doing right by your birds by offering free choice.

 

[digitS']

Yeah, I don't know what one could expect from a Sussex and a Orpington . . . they are going to look chubby.

Hens make eggs from excess nutrients. There's no way around it - what goes into an egg doesn't come out of thin air. They have to eat more than they need for their own bodies or there won't be any eggs.

As far as fat . . . just be sure that they get that good balanced diet. Loading them up with only calories won't make eggs or, really, anything other than fat.

Good, healthy food and all she wants -- that's what I say

.

Steve