My chickens are looking awfully poofy

[NellaBean]

Is it just the change in seasons are my chickens looking awfully.....fluffy these days?

I swear, my little red chicken just seems so much bigger than she used to be. Could it just be her age catching up? Finally maturing past that gangly pullet stage?

The girls who are looking heftier are my older girls...older being relative as they are probably getting close to 7 months old now.


I keep the feeder full of layer pellets (layena 16%) and they "free range" i my 1/2 acre yard all day. Their crops are always HUGE in the evenings. I do throw out "scraps" after work. Usually bread or something like that. Keep in mind I have 17 chickens out there, so whatever I throw out is eaten up within a couple minutes.

Can they be getting FAT off of the free ranging? Or just looking fluffy as the temps are going down? Or just getting mature?

Anything?

My dad was visiting recently and was all "wow, your chickens are FAT" but I think he was just looking at the fluffy cochins. He doesn't know a skinny chicken from a fat chicken so his opinion doesn't count anyways

 

[Tala]

Quote:
They fluff up their feathers when it's colder. Cats and dogs fluff up their fur too. I swear my parent's outdoor cats double in size when it gets cold. It done is to trap a layer of warm air around the body.

 

[buck431397]

well good. either way, the fatter and fluffier, the better!

 

[KnitswithChickens]

Mine are 21 weeks old - they also got fluffier looking. My Aussie does too in the winter when his double coat gets really full and fluffy.

 

[SC_Hugh]

My two Cochins are looking very fluffy these days.

My Cochin rooster "looks" like a giant, then I picked him up...he is all fluff! My Dominique pullets are 24 weeks and they are pretty solid, but the Cochins are 22 weeks and they are fluff balls, also slower to mature. They will be heavy chickens when they mature, but that will be some time later.

--Hugh

 

[teach1rusl]

Even my little babies (month old) fluff up and look so cute and plump when I let them out for a little while in the NIPPY weather!!

 

[silkypie]

Quote:

 

[Momo]

Humans fluff up when they're chilled, too. It's called goosebumps...

Problem is, we don't have enough fur to make us poofy...

 

[Biddieacres]

Maybe they are finishing up a molt and new fluffy feathers coming in? Mine look scraggly from the molt right now.

 

[vbgarden]

That's it! My new line....

"I'm not fat, I'm poofy!"