Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[fowlman01]

The boy in the pic all growed up and still ridin. that's me and my 17 hand stallion called Stilts takin a break after a long ride.

Would you buy a car from this person?

w.

 

[delisha]

Fat chickens..well I just pick them up and run my hands over them. You can feel the skeletal system and how the muscle covers the bones. There is a distinct difference in feel of muscle verses fat. I do not handle my chickens as much as I have been recently. I usually do visuals and that used to be enough. Now I am being a little more fanatical since I started with the internet. I am not sure I like it...lol

 

[Miss Lydia]

Would you buy a car from this person?

w.

I wouldn't, shifty eyes

 

[delisha]

Quote: Depends on how many breaks he has taken. Car sales men usually are pretty good after a few.

 

[Beekissed]

Would you buy a car from this person?

w.

 

[NikkiMiChickie]

Fat chickens..well I just pick them up and run my hands over them. You can feel the skeletal system and how the muscle covers the bones. There is a distinct difference in feel of muscle verses fat. I do not handle my chickens as much as I have been recently. I usually do visuals and that used to be enough. Now I am being a little more fanatical since I started with the internet. I am not sure I like it...lol

 

Same here... Much more fanatical! Lol. Ok I'm going to have to start squishing my chickens to feel for muscle vs fat maybe not squishing, exactly, but I need to do a good bug inspection on everybody anyways, so I'll add this to the list of things to do this weekend. Thanks!

 

[Beekissed]

Recent Talk about fat chickens has me thinking... Is there any way to tell that your chickens are too fat? This is my first flock... I never even considered that a chicken could get fat, lol. I've read some mention that fat chickens lower egg production, which makes sense. My girls are opened up to the world at 6:30am, before daylight, and closed up when ever they go to bed. Between those hours, they range over about 5-6 acres, although they could go further. They're on ff, and I also leave game bird feed in their coop all day. Honestly though, besides laying an egg, I never catch anyone back in the coop. With a constant food supply, it's certainly possible for my girls to be overweight, but I have NO IDEA how to tell whether they are or not. What do I look or feel for?

Ease of mobility when running, jumping up to the roost, etc. For the first time I've let one of my flocks get fat and you can see how much slower they can motivate...the rooster runs like a sumo wrestler instead of a heavy weight boxer. I've had too fat hens in other flocks but they were usually culled for less than stellar laying, so individual birds can put on weight over other birds but if the whole flock is chunky, then the feed ration may be too rich or they get free choice feeds and little exercise. Time to adjust.

 

[NikkiMiChickie]

Ease of mobility when running, jumping up to the roost, etc.  For the first time I've let one of my flocks get fat and you can see how much slower they can motivate...the rooster runs like a sumo wrestler instead of a heavy weight boxer.  I've had too fat hens in other flocks but they were usually culled for less than stellar laying, so individual birds can put on weight over other birds but if the whole flock is chunky, then the feed ration may be too rich or they get free choice feeds and little exercise.  Time to adjust. 

Thanks, Bee. I'm going to have to watch some chicken tv this weekend too. Thanks for the input!

 

[al6517]

Quote:


LOL I could use the Old adage that the sun was in my eyes, but alas I cannot.............. seein as I only have one eye, but it can still see a wise crack coming LOL

 

[al6517]

Recent Talk about fat chickens has me thinking... Is there any way to tell that your chickens are too fat? This is my first flock... I never even considered that a chicken could get fat, lol. I've read some mention that fat chickens lower egg production, which makes sense. My girls are opened up to the world at 6:30am, before daylight, and closed up when ever they go to bed. Between those hours, they range over about 5-6 acres, although they could go further. They're on ff, and I also leave game bird feed in their coop all day. Honestly though, besides laying an egg, I never catch anyone back in the coop. With a constant food supply, it's certainly possible for my girls to be overweight, but I have NO IDEA how to tell whether they are or not. What do I look or feel for?

Given their daily routine yours will probably not fall into the most likely to be fat category, but if your not sure and know without a shadow of a dought how to properly handle a bird for inspection. I feel for it............... a calm hand and feel the fat, it feels much different than normal muscle and will also show to an extent in the look and behavior. I think her bird may have had a genetic problem, which IMO has led to it's propensity to lay on fat in an extremely rare fashion. Most normal chickens will almost never get fat just all by themselfs even with excersize restraints and full feeders, but they can and some do but you have to a totaly blind to not realize your doing something wrong if they are fat. mine never do and their some beefy bast***s. I wouldn't worry but it helps for one to know how to properly examine a bird for any internal deformities/abnormalities.