Fat chickens can barely walk

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

For a diet, I would cut out all "treats". Give them only the layer feed. If you like, you can occasionally wet a small portion of their feed, and they will devour it as if it were a treat.

Is this for all of them, even the young ones that don’t have any weight problems? I always read about people giving all of the things I do, but I never read it was unhealthy for them. Here I thought I had been doing everything right!

 

[Painted Calls]

Is this for all of them, even the young ones that don’t have any weight problems? I always read about people giving all of the things I do, but I never read it was unhealthy for them. Here I thought I had been doing everything right!

If they all live together, it wouldn't hurt to cut all treats. Start a new routine. Once a day, give them a small ration of their balanced feed wetted down. Use the same dish every time. Soon they will act as they always have with treats when they see you coming with that yummy mash!

 

[Lizzy733]

Is this for all of them, even the young ones that don’t have any weight problems? I always read about people giving all of the things I do, but I never read it was unhealthy for them. Here I thought I had been doing everything right!

There might be a genetic predisposition there or a behavioral one.

You said they're crosses? Hybrid vigour is a thing to watch out for - it can show up in barnyard mixes too. And as mentioned, there's a bit of a tipping pont where weight affects mobility and things snowball.

They move around less cause moving around is effort - less activity = more weight retention = more motility issues = fat chicken snowball

 

[Painted Calls]

For two birds that is ample space actually.

Agreed. That's more space than some people on here give an entire flock.

 

[Chicalina]

You haven't actually established that these birds are overweight. They are both large heavy breeds and could easily be normal build for their strain/cross. I've had HUGE Orpingtons and RIR crosses in the past.

The bumblefoot could be the main thing that is hindering their mobility. They must be in terrible pain not to be able to run away from a rapey rooster. How bad is it and what are you doing to treat their feet? Please post feet pics.

They could easily be elderly if they aren't laying, or have internal issues such as ascites which has been mentioned, and which will need treating. You haven't replied as to what their keels feel like, or whether they have water belly.

You also say you love them like family but talk about them as fat ugly and old . I'm a bit confused at that.

My flock free range, and have treats and leftovers and don't get fat. I never restrict their food. Chickens are mostly self regulating weight-wise and rarely need to be put on a diet. Why do you think they are too fat?

 

[21hens-incharge]

My ducks were nutty about chasing a laser light.....I never tried it with the chickens.

It might be a fun game too.

 

[NatJ]

All of the extra stuff needs to stop for real. Everything that you feed them besides the layer feed is taking away from them getting a balanced diet.

I always read about people giving all of the things I do, but I never read it was unhealthy for them. Here I thought I had been doing everything right!

My flock free range, and have treats and leftovers and don't get fat. I never restrict their food. Chickens are mostly self regulating weight-wise and rarely need to be put on a diet.

Different people feed their chickens differently.

For Kiki, it works well to feed a complete chicken feed and no treats at all.
For Chicalina, it works well for chickens to free range, and have treats and leftovers.
[Edit: Chicalina points out, a complete chicken food is the main diet, and the other things are in addition. I had assumed that, but had not remembered to say so. That is a very important point!]

@Catbunnychick, I don't know what will work best for you and your chickens. Chickens can be healthy with many different styles of feeding, so each person tends to recommend what works well for them. That is why you are getting different (and contradictory) advice from different people.

 

[Chicalina]

Different people feed their chickens differently.

For Kiki, it works well to feed a complete chicken feed and no treats at all.
For Chicalina, it works well for chickens to free range, and have treats and leftovers.

@Catbunnychick, I don't know what will work best for you and your chickens. Chickens can be healthy with many different styles of feeding, so each person tends to recommend what works well for them. That is why you are getting different (and contradictory) advice from different people.

I would add that for my flock, their staple diet is growers pellets. The other stuff is extra, and not every day. They have fruit and veg trimmings a couple of times a week for example, and they graze the grass and find bugs themselves.

I don't want you to think I don't feed them ordinary chicken feed!

 

[Lizzy733]

You haven't actually established that these birds are overweight. They are both large heavy breeds and could easily be normal build for their strain/cross. I've had HUGE Orpingtons and RIR crosses in the past.

The bumblefoot could be the main thing that is hindering their mobility. They must be in terrible pain not to be able to run away from a rapey rooster. How bad is it and what are you doing to treat their feet? Please post feet pics.

They could easily be elderly if they aren't laying, or have internal issues such as ascites which has been mentioned, and which will need treating. You haven't replied as to what their keels feel like, or whether they have water belly.

You also say you love them like family but talk about them as fat ugly and old . I'm a bit confused at that.

My flock free range, and have treats and leftovers and don't get fat. I never restrict their food. Chickens are mostly self regulating weight-wise and rarely need to be put on a diet. Why do you think they are too fat?

This is my main concern, that there may be an underlying health condition underpinning the mobility issue. I don't even think I caught that there was an issue with bumblefoot. It doesn't do much good to treat symptoms without a root cause.

If they have bumblefoot, this is the cause of their mobility issue and it won't be fixed by diet and exercise.

If they are older, they run an increased risk of disease or age-related decline. Moreso if they are 'fat' or are a heavy breed using a coop designed for med-light weight birds with high perches etc...

As mentioned, some breeds present 'larger' or 'smaller' than the norm. The keel condition guide posted earlier is good in general, but your bird may not be a solid 3. Larger breeds would lean towards a 4 and hybrid layers closer to a 2. Being part Orpington, I'd say up to a 4 is probably fine.

My SLW is a hefty girl, but she's not fat despite being at least twice the weight of my other standard hens. Her breast is broader and much more muscled than any of my other girls, which is normal for her breed.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Whenever a lovely bird dies with fatty liver, it's awful. It's like a punch right in the gut because I knew it was MY fault. I started out giving treats constantly. It's easy because so many of us show love with food. It's not easy to change the way we look at things but it is necessary for their well-being. I stopped with all the treats well before my hen died, but the damage had already been done. Unfortunately oftentimes they can't take meds like humans do to fix the things we mess up with our diets. Take it from someone that's been there, done that sadly. Of course it was the head hen because she was first at treats and a favorite.
With that said, I have one hen that's a BIG'IN. She was a large chick, large pullet and large hen. If anyone looked at her, they'd probably assume she's overweight. My mother says that "Bonnie" looks tasty Going by the body chart, Bonnie isn't as overweight as she looks. That's going to be your best gauge on body condition.