Are all my chickes too thin?

[ReiMiraa]

i got some free chickens to add to my flock. they were city bantm chickens..... those hens had full full breaks... they were dense.

now that they have to compete for food and free range, they are still dense but the breasts are no longer full. i consider my chickens lean cos the exercise alot. course they all are their appropriate weight. 11 pound rooster. and soon another rooster that will be 13 pounds. i have a large dynamic flock. with a roo that is full grown and only 24 ounces.

 

[junglebird]

Quote:
That's easy, thanks. I'll do that and see if they choose it over the grit. I was thinking that since the days are getting shorter they wouldn't be laying till spring.

I'll take a picture of the Buff Orpington, if I can get a good one showing his keel/breast shape to compare to the descriptions AinaWGSD gave.

SmittenChicken - do you think it's possible they're getting a certain amount of critter protein from all their pecking and scratching in the garden? They've got a fair amount of soil turned over, especially in the raised beds.

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

I don't think you will have to wait till spring for eggs. I don;t even give my girls extra light and I get eggs year round.

You have NHR, BR and Ameraucanas. I have and have had the same that layed eggs year round. The Marans I have never had but understand they are seasonal. Young pullets though will start laying when they are ready and your 3 should start laying anytime.

You don't say where you live, what area of the country, so everyone is kind of guessing at your situation on the bigs in the ground. But around here they are starting to go deep and the pickings are getting slim. My girls are eating more feed now.

Everyone here is just horrified that their chickens will get worms. That has to be the answer to everything. Not really. Give your girls ACV in their water daily, and don't worry about it.

If I were you though, I would get more chickens or get rid of a ROO. You have too many Roos for the number of hens that you have. They are probably running and mating themselves to thinness. Literally.
1Roo/5-10 hens. Note the numbers, see the problem.

 

[junglebird]

Thanks Buttercup

Getting eggs this winter would be an unexpected surprise!

I'm in Southern Oregon. We just had a big rain, nearly 3 inches in the last week. We only get around 20" a year, all during winter, so we're already almost 1/6 of the way through winter - lol! After the rain there were earthworms everywhere - though when I offered one to the chickens they didn't think much of it. Now slugs are another story. I also see them catching jumping and flying things. The garden is at the edge of the woods, so there's a diversity of wildlife and insects. We've only had one night of frost so far, and our winters aren't all that cold.

It seems to me they were eating quite a bit of feed till somewhat recently, maybe coinciding with the change from starter to layer ration. I was finding a lot dust in the feeders, like the crumble was just disintegrating. Maybe they didn't like that. Now I don't put much in the feeder at a time to reduce dust. I'm going to look into options for a better food, maybe I can find one with no soy.

The original group of "pullets" I bought from the feed store turned out to be half roosters.

. I acquired 3 more pullets a couple of months ago, and I get your point. I will keep my eyes open for more. The top rooster has been pestering the pullets a little bit, but I've only seen one full on mounting so far.