Hen overweight?

[rachelrulz]

I have a 1 yr. old BO hen that I think is really overweight. I have not yet weighed her but, just by picking her up, I'm pretty sure she's 10-12 pounds at least!!! I don't give her many treats, and none of the other hens are heavier than usual.

How did she get this heavy? Is it her food? How can she lose weight? Please help.

 

[Lollipop]

I have a 1 yr. old BO hen that I think is really overweight. I have not yet weighed her but, just by picking her up, I'm pretty sure she's 10-12 pounds at least!!! How did she get this heavy? Is it her food? Please help.

That's a big girl. To determine the extent of the fat, turn her upside down and look at that skin under the vent. It's almost transparent and you should be able to see yellow fat under the skin. Some is fine, but huge ammounts would mean a reduction is in order. You didn't say what you feed, but a good layer ration with 16-20% protien is good. Corn or scratch is not as it adds fat with not much protien. As with anything, you get what you pay for. Good luck.......Pop

 

[rachelrulz]

That's a big girl. To determine the extent of the fat, turn her upside down and look at that skin under the vent. It's almost transparent and you should be able to see yellow fat under the skin. Some is fine, but huge ammounts would mean a reduction is in order. You didn't say what you feed, but a good layer ration with 16-20% protien is good. Corn or scratch is not as it adds fat with not much protien. As with anything, you get what you pay for. Good luck.......Pop

I feed her high protein layer feed (20-22% protein) along with some cracked corn and corn-on-the-cob. I'll try the upside down thing.

 

[Lollipop]

Try cutting out the treats(corn, cracked corn) and cut down on her layer feed, if you can see a lot of fat. Don't starve her, but she should be healthy on about 5-6 ounces of feed per day. Lotsa folks over feed their hens..........Pop