Can a hen be too fat? They even have a lot of trouble jumping up on the roost
You are on the meat bird forum so you are in the right place.
Cornish X are bred to grow really fast and be butchered at around 6 to 8 weeks when fed the way meat birds ae usually fed. Even then you often restrict feed to avoid them growing so big so fast their heart give out or their skeleton breaks down. You can keep them longer but you really have to watch how much they eat to have any consistent success.
Rangers are also a meat bird. They are bred to grow a little slower than the Cornish X and rely more on pasture instead of feeding them everything they eat. If you feed them a meat bird diet they probably should be butchered somewhere around 12 weeks old. With more restricted feeding they can go longer. But they also are bred to put on a lot of weight. They can also grow so large that their heart can give out or their skeleton break down. For a large bird that large jumping down from a roost is a challenge. It can easily lead to a damaged leg, probably more at risk for being dislocated rather than broken, but broken bones can happen.
Females that age can have a fair amount of fat in them, much more so than the boys, but most of what you are seeing is probably more meat than fat. They are bred to produce meat.
There are threads on this forum where people have tried to keep Rangers alive long enough for them to mate and produce hatching eggs. Many people do manage that but it takes work. Most say those hens do not make it to a second laying season.
Rangers are bred to put on a lot of meat and to be butchered young. They are not bred to be kept as a long term member of a flock.
Good luck but I think you are fighting a losing battle. It is likely to already be too late to restrict their feed. It is a pretty fine line to not feed them so much that they eat themselves to death but yet eat enough to stay healthy.
You are on the meat bird forum so you are in the right place.
Cornish X are bred to grow really fast and be butchered at around 6 to 8 weeks when fed the way meat birds ae usually fed. Even then you often restrict feed to avoid them growing so big so fast their heart give out or their skeleton breaks down. You can keep them longer but you really have to watch how much they eat to have any consistent success.
Rangers are also a meat bird. They are bred to grow a little slower than the Cornish X and rely more on pasture instead of feeding them everything they eat. If you feed them a meat bird diet they probably should be butchered somewhere around 12 weeks old. With more restricted feeding they can go longer. But they also are bred to put on a lot of weight. They can also grow so large that their heart can give out or their skeleton break down. For a large bird that large jumping down from a roost is a challenge. It can easily lead to a damaged leg, probably more at risk for being dislocated rather than broken, but broken bones can happen.
Females that age can have a fair amount of fat in them, much more so than the boys, but most of what you are seeing is probably more meat than fat. They are bred to produce meat.
There are threads on this forum where people have tried to keep Rangers alive long enough for them to mate and produce hatching eggs. Many people do manage that but it takes work. Most say those hens do not make it to a second laying season.
Rangers are bred to put on a lot of meat and to be butchered young. They are not bred to be kept as a long term member of a flock.
Good luck but I think you are fighting a losing battle. It is likely to already be too late to restrict their feed. It is a pretty fine line to not feed them so much that they eat themselves to death but yet eat enough to stay healthy.
