How to tell how muscular a hen is

[robinwhiskers]

I have a 1 year old buff Orpington hen, she knows many tricks and some of those involve jumping and spinning. I was wondering lately if she appears more fit than she would be if she didn't train every day. Does anyone here know how what a muscular chicken looks like or how to tell if a chicken is muscular/fit?

 

[Shadrach]

I have a 1 year old buff Orpington hen, she knows many tricks and some of those involve jumping and spinning. I was wondering lately if she appears more fit than she would be if she didn't train every day. Does anyone here know how what a muscular chicken looks like or how to tell if a chicken is muscular/fit?

You're having a laugh
What a great post. No I have absolutely no idea and I'm dying to see what others post.
You could pluck her and watch for the muscular ripples
What tricks can she do?
There is a circus group in one of the farm house further up the mountain here that have chickens that do tricks. They say the chickens are smarter than the dogs.
Great post.

 

[lilmillefleur]

You can give her a fitness gram test and see how Many laps she can run around the gym

In all seriousness...I don’t know.

 

[robinwhiskers]

She has 38 tricks now I believe? Some of those include spin, jump through a hoop, find a jack in a group of cards, jump up on my leg, ring a bell, weave around cones, leave a treat, look at me, stand on my feet while I do situps...lol if anyone knows anything about chicken muscles let me know!

 

[Mrs. K]

Feathers hide a lot of muscles, so you need to 'look' with your hands?

 

[aart]

Feathers hide a lot of muscles, so you need to 'look' with your hands?

Exactly.

stand on my feet while I do situps

Hmmmm...might be some projection going on here?

 

[robinwhiskers]

I always wonder when I feel her if it's fat or muscle...anyway what do you mean by projection?

 

[Chickassan]

You would have to measure the two types of muscle fiber in a chicken. Slow twitch muscle fiber "aka dark meat" used for standing and other long term movements and fast twitch fiber "aka white meat" used for sudden bursts.

 

[Shadrach]

I always wonder when I feel her if it's fat or muscle...anyway what do you mean by projection?

I’m going to have a go at this.
Fat, lets assume it accumulates evenly over the chickens body.
To test for fat on a human you might pinch an area of skin and depending on the thickness of the piece of flesh you’ve pinched gives an indication of the amount of fat.
I’ve just pinched fat bird and Tackle here and you would need calipers to tell the difference, neither seemed very pleased at the fat test.
If you have a hen that doesn’t do tricks, you know, a bit of a sofa lounger then you could make a comparison.
You could test leg strength by making a very simple squat machine.
A pole stuck in the ground with another pole attached at the top by a hinge of some description able to move in a full 180 degree arc. In the middle of this pole, attach weights; maybe a piece of cloth like a sling shot. Use kitchen scale weights to put in the pouch.
Pad the end of the pole and make your chicken squat underneath with the end of the pole resting on her back. Then, get her to stand. By adding weights eventually she’ll get to a struggle point. That would give you her leg strength.
Wing strength I’m still thinking about.

 

[aart]

I always wonder when I feel her if it's fat or muscle...anyway what do you mean by projection?

That you are doing sit-ups and maybe wondering about your own muscle to fat ratio?
Bad joke, sorry...tho wonder of a chicken can really hold feet down for situps.
I thought you might be joking about all the tricks they do..and how that effects their physical balances.

So, to be serious, one would have to be pretty familiar(lots of practice) with feeling chickens to tell if you're feeling fat or muscle. Just like humans sometimes they carry the fat inside their bodies and some carry it outside the muscle.
Might not be able to tell until freezer camp day.

Spoiler: Butchered chicken pic might offend some