How to care for fryers, if you want to keep them as egg-laying pets???

[Granolamom]

I understand that they tend to have health problems, because they were bred to be killed at a young age. My friend has 4 that she's keeping as pets (hopefully they'll give her some eggs, too), and she's wondering how to best care for them ( type of feed, free-range versus run, treats, etc.), to keep them as healthy as possible.
Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[nicalandia]

Quote:
if she has a back yard, I would say, let them free range and catch their own food, just feed them in the mornings and thats it, I know they will follow her and she will think they are starving but they are not, they are just that way, hard wire to eat and eat till they get kill or die...but they are in good health if you keep them free ranging...good luck

 

[Harp Turkey Ranch]

Free range them 100% and only feed in the mornings all they can eat in 30 minutes (18% protien is what these get) and then pull the food until the next day. Have some friends that do this and they are all healthy and they actually free range for their food. they travel up to 2.5 acres to get food. and they are all healthy and small. Pretty funny to see CX's out in a field and not getting feed. But boy when they see you they all come running and one would swear they are starving to death the way they act. they will actually pile so hard on the fence that the bottom ones get killed if one doesn't break the pile u[p or get them moving away from the fence.

 

[cassie]

In my very humble opinion your friend would be a whole lot better off to just rehome those chickens (like to me) and get a variety more suited for her purposes. Save herself a lot of grief. It is true it MAY be possible to keep those chickens alive with proper management, lots of exercise and limited feed. Anything is possible. I even heard of a couple scientists that made a silk purse out of a sow's ear just to see if they could. But whether it is worth it is another matter. Of course, if the truth be told, I should keep quiet. I have done a few things in my life that have made even less sense.

 

[Harp Turkey Ranch]

They are trying to breed them like Tim Shell was doing before he move out of the country. You can breed them and start a line breeding program and after a while you can get a bird that will be like the other slow growing birds, to me seems a waste of time, but that is me.