How does she look , safe to eat ?

[MarketGardener]

Well I crapped myself when eggs came out holy sheet I thaught I found a cluster or tumors lol
The amount of fat on my birds is insane umm normal??

Well I guess all my chickens are this fat then even my layers, is this a healthy fat ? Or too much I’ve no idea they all get the same food

The heart has fat on it and there chewy pouch, all look healthy though lungs a little pale to my cockerels

 

[JacinLarkwell]

@U_Stormcrow

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I think thats a bit much fatwise, but I see nothing that says it's inedible

 

[Geena]

Looks safe to me. Every older hen I've butchered had quite a bit of fat stored up. Seems like she had some fatty liver disease, but that doesn't affect the meat.

 

[MarketGardener]

I’d say she is obease after a read online , she was 22 week old she ate food and was quite lazy unlike the rest who run allover
Rest of the flock must be to eh too many scraps and too much corn I guess ,
Their on a balanced feed now but would like advise on restoring the flock that’s left to prime health and not at an obease level if possible

Just keep them on the feed ? Do I restrict the greens they get ? Or increase the greens ?
Increase the protein they get ?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Before a pullet or hen starts to lay she builds up excess fat. This fat is what a broody mostly lives off of so she can spend her time on the nest taking care of the eggs instead of needing to be out looking for food and water. A broody should get off of the nest occasionally to eat and drink a bit and mostly to poop but most of her time needs to be on the nest.

I've butchered enough chickens to know that the difference in the fat between the boys and girls is tremendous. Most of that excess fat is usually in what is called a fat pad in the pelvic region but it can be spread all around the interior, including on the organs. What you are showing does appear to be excessive. It will not hurt the meat.

Balanced feed is just that, a healthy balance of nutrients. If that is all they eat they get a good balance of the nutrients they need. If you feed much treats you risk upsetting that balance. If they forage for much of their food you've lost the ability to micromanage their diet, but they are usually pretty good about picking good forage when they have the option provided the quality of forage is good to choose from.

I'd suggest depending mostly on their balanced feed and reduce treats to a small part of their overall diet. I'd greatly reduce any high calorie treats you are giving them. I don't know what is in your scraps. I'd avoid high energy treats like corn and black oil sunflower seeds. Greens should be low in calories but feed them in moderation.

 

[MarketGardener]

Before a pullet or hen starts to lay she builds up excess fat. This fat is what a broody mostly lives off of so she can spend her time on the nest taking care of the eggs instead of needing to be out looking for food and water. A broody should get off of the nest occasionally to eat and drink a bit and mostly to poop but most of her time needs to be on the nest.

I've butchered enough chickens to know that the difference in the fat between the boys and girls is tremendous. Most of that excess fat is usually in what is called a fat pad in the pelvic region but it can be spread all around the interior, including on the organs. What you are showing does appear to be excessive. It will not hurt the meat.

Balanced feed is just that, a healthy balance of nutrients. If that is all they eat they get a good balance of the nutrients they need. If you feed much treats you risk upsetting that balance. If they forage for much of their food you've lost the ability to micromanage their diet, but they are usually pretty good about picking good forage when they have the option provided the quality of forage is good to choose from.

I'd suggest depending mostly on their balanced feed and reduce treats to a small part of their overall diet. I'd greatly reduce any high calorie treats you are giving them. I don't know what is in your scraps. I'd avoid high energy treats like corn and black oil sunflower seeds. Greens should be low in calories but feed them in moderation.

Thankyou, generally they had green garden lol it’s as you can imagine mud now especially as winter is here they won vs nature so winter months have been mostly grains fed with all veg scraps and dinner scraps (we eat organic clean diet ) no refined food so there allowed most of what we have left over I believe it has been the high corn side of their old diet

Is the fat useable ? We saved it I think the mrs wants to cook with it ?she sat there with a bowl while I picked it out I couldn’t get through to the membrane for the fat so it’s collected atm

yes it goes around their whole body necks too and the organs yeah
One of them has layed her first egg day of butcher

We have meaters , breed stock for this years meaters and egg layers

Don’t really want my eggers or breeders being that fat so will defiantly look to reduce their feed treats and make all veg up high for more exercise
I can’t get to any green growth for another month when the winter dies off

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is the fat useable

Do an internet search on schmaltz. That is rendered chicken fat.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Well I crapped myself when eggs came out holy sheet I thaught I found a cluster or tumors lol
The amount of fat on my birds is insane umm normal??

Well I guess all my chickens are this fat then even my layers, is this a healthy fat ? Or too much I’ve no idea they all get the same food

The heart has fat on it and there chewy pouch, all look healthy though lungs a little pale to my cockerels

You may find this useful.

In my view, that is too much fat. Curious as to what you feed them. and I didn't catch the age of the bird? Not massively too much fat, but yes, too much.

And yes, the fat is useable - just not useble for sausage (doesn't firm up near room temp, makes for a poor mouthfeel). Cook it down, skim it, cool and transfer to a glass jar. Keep it in the fridge as an alternative to butter for sauteeing veggies, adding to the water when making rice, etc. Supposed to be good for making biscuits, too - but as I can't make biscuits, I can't confirm from experience. (I overwork them. and i KNOW i overwork them. And yet, I can't help myself from overworking them... Pancakes, too. But don't use chicken fat for those.)

 

[Geena]

We have meaters , breed stock for this years meaters

What kind of meat birds do you have? I agree that's too much fat for an egg laying hen, but if you have broilers, that's an average amount of fat, I've seen worse. It's just about impossible to keep broiler hens from getting fat without practically starving them. I feed my breeder meat birds twice a day only what they will clean up in a few minutes and they have to forage for anything else they get.