One Fat Chicken + Three Skinny Chickens

[vermontgal]

One of my chickens, a Barred Rock, seems to be fat. The other Barred Rock is scrawny, as is the New Hampshire Red. The Easter Egger is in the middle.

The fat chicken is also the friendliest. She also seems to be the leader of the flock. I have no ability to figure out who is where in the pecking order. She goes first in and out of the coop. I'm a little worried that she might be too fat?

So - questions - how to do you tell if a chicken is too fat? And, if she is fat but her companions are thin - then I probably can't just restrict food to all of them to make her less fat?

 

[beakkeeper]

She is probably the head chicken, and so gets to eat the choice treats before anyone else gets to the feeder! She is probably too fat b/c of that. You could try feeding her separately and eliminating scratch, treats, grain, etc. and give the others lots of that.