Fat chickens can barely walk

[Ponypoor]

They got checked this morning… It was very tough to even find the keel bone on either one! They are a 5 without a doubt. Their bellies both feel like the rest of their bodies. There is nothing squishy or abnormal feeling in that area. Everyone asks how I can tell they are fat… walking does not look painful to them (since bumblefoot has healed)… but It looks like a huge burden. That is the best way to describe it. They are very very slow and they lurch side to side. Not like a bubbly waddle! Like an extremely obese human might walk is the best I can say. There is no question.

As someone mentioned about the coop not being set up for their age and condition, I watched them jump off the roost this morning and it is indeed still too high! Should I will lower the back roost, and maybe just remove the front one? Also add another 6 inches of pine shavings for an even softer landing? This coop has been rearranged so many times!

Going to try all exercise recommendations as well.
View attachment 2900875View attachment 2900876View attachment 2900877

Looks like an awesome setup.

I would turn those 2x4 on their width side though (rather than the narrow side), this will provide a more stable platform for them to roost on.

 

[Geena]

I know they are both mixes. One is a Rhode Island Red mix and the other a Buff Orpington mix.

Are you certain that's what they are? To me they look like they might be colored broiler hens. If so pretty much no matter what you do they are going to be rotund.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I saw those posts @aart. They just don't look that big to me given having weighed a big ole brahma pretty regularly.

 

[NatJ]

I saw those posts @aart. They just don't look that big to me given having weighed a big ole brahma pretty regularly.

Brahmas have fluffy feathers, so they look bigger than some other chickens of similar weights. I've seen the other side with Dark Cornish chickens: they can outweigh many other chickens while looking like the smallest birds in the flock, just because their feathering is tight and close.

So I would trust OP's statement of the actual weights, rather than trying to guess from the photos. (Although I agree that re-weighing is a good idea, because they may have changed in the past few months.)

 

[21hens-incharge]

I guess at those weights I expected to see super big birds like cornishX sizes.

 

[Geena]

I've raised a lot of broiler hens and they appear to be almost the same size as layer hens, but they are actually twice the weight.
red ranger hen - 12 lbs

 

[Painted Calls]

Both hens look like layer mixes. The one almost looks like a Calico Princess. Neither should weigh 12 or 13lbs. Maybe 8 tops. Where there should be fluffy feathers like an Orp, there is fat and body mass pushing against them making them look tight like a Leghorn. Those feathers should be more loose and fluffy.

 

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

Are you certain that's what they are? To me they look like they might be colored broiler hens. If so pretty much no matter what you do they are going to be rotund.

I don’t know what they are. I only guessed based on what they look like. Is “broiler hen” another name for meat bird? Ugh, I cant even bear the thought of eating chicken since they became my pets. It would be like eating my cats!

 

[Isadora]

I don’t know what they are. I only guessed based on what they look like. Is “broiler hen” another name for meat bird? Ugh, I cant even bear the thought of eating chicken since they became my pets. It would be like eating my cats!

I'm sure they would taste way better.

 

[Geena]

Both hens look like layer mixes. The one almost looks like a Calico Princess. Neither should weigh 12 or 13lbs. Maybe 8 tops. Where there should be fluffy feathers like an Orp, there is fat and body mass pushing against them making them look tight like a Leghorn. Those feathers should be more loose and fluffy.

Maybe Dixie Rainbows?