Big fat hen

[boks'n'rose]

My hen, Rosie, who has not laid much in the last six months (maybe 1 egg every 2 months) is getting very fat and heavy. She has had reproductive 'issues' and I've given up on her as a layer - she is still around only because we love her.
She waddles around slowly and is real heavy to pick up.
So I'm wondering if she is just heavy because she is eating the same amount as the other hen but not 'losing weight' through laying ... or is there something wrong with her? And if so if there is anything I can do?
Appreciate any advice.

 

[sumi]

How old is she? If she's over weight she may develop health problems. So if she's not laying maybe you should cut back a bit on her food and not give her layer food. I'm guessing what used to go into her eggs are now going into her hips!

 

[pgpoultry]

I have a very 'lardy' Brahma hen who is a good layer but who has a vast appetite and is very greedy. She waddles much more than the average Brahma and this is purely down to the fact that she is fat and lazy too. luckily we all like her!
I think Rosie is getting extra fat if she no longer egg lays to use off some of her food, and would probably be better off on a diet. My Bluey would too, so I'll cut out her sunflower seed treats once she is through a rather severe moult. She has , however continued to lay almost daily in spite of her moult, so the fat isn't doing Bluey too much harm.

 

[sumi]

I had a big fat hen called Dopey. She lived to eat. She started laying when she was 8 months old, finally. She was as thick as a plank, but I adored her. I used to worry one day she will die of a heart attack, she was so big. I ended up giving her away to a friend who lost her chickens. Dopey was too stupid to keep up with the rest of the pack.

 

[boks'n'rose]

Thanks for the replies. Rosie is about 3 years old - she was a good layer but got egg bound once and would have died if I hadn't convinced the vet to have a look inside her. The vet found a manky egg and removed it, gave her medication and she recovered. She started laying again but after a few months stopped. In the last few months there have been 2 eggs from her. She was never fat before, so I suspect she is either blocked up or just gaining weight... which one I am not sure. Putting her on a diet is a good idea - not sure how I'll do it though. I guess I just want to know that she is ok - I wouldn't want this extra weight to be eggs blocked inside her, or for her to be in any pain.

 

[BooBear]

It could be a possibility that she is an internal layer (hopefully this is not the case) if she is known to have issue before with stuck egg.
If you are concerned it may be worth having her checked by the Vet just for piece of mind. Hopefully it is just extra fat and she is ok.

 

[boks'n'rose]

Yikes... an internal layer? I haven't come across that term before. Is that bad?
I think I might take her to the vet ... it's quite a drive out to the only vet that knows anything about chickens- but I'd rather make sure she is ok.
She doesn't seem to be in any pain ... just big/wide and heavy.