Overweight Chicken?

[addietief]

Our Australorp looks overweight. I don't know how much a chicken should weight or if it matters, but she seems so big for her legs. Is that normal?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Feel alongside her chest for that vertical bone. Then feel alongside it on either side. You should feel meat there, but not really puffed out with a lot of meat. You kind of have to examine several chickens to get the idea of normal.

The other thing is, is her belly swollen from ascites or it is normal. Those are a couple of things to check.

I had Australorps before and they looked normal. I mean, proportional.

 

[addietief]

I'll try it. Thanks. It's basically just around the tops of each leg. Could be the shape of the breed.

 

[Chic_girl]

Hmm, I think I may have at least one overweight bantam Brahma hen. I pick her up, and she feels even heavier than my bantam Brahma rooster! (And I know he's chunky!)

I think she keeps sneaking the Starter/Grower chick crumbles from the bin in my coop, but when I moved it 2 weeks ago, she still feels heavy. I know sometimes birds store fat before going broody and setting on eggs, so could that be what she's doing?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGA/Lorps/BRKLorps.html
scroll down for several pics of australorps

might give you a better idea?

 

[addietief]

Thanks for the picture. That helped. Her bulk is around her legs like the picture. She looks so heavy for her legs. I like this breed, she is such a friendly chicken. Only problem is our rooster is an excellent guard so when she comes to us, he naturally follows her to protect her. We may put him in the run tomorrow for a few minutes so the chickens can come over to us, which they like to do. Last time we did this the rooster was having fits because he couldn't get to the chickens to protect them.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Thanks for the picture. That helped. Her bulk is around her legs like the picture. She looks so heavy for her legs. I like this breed, she is such a friendly chicken. Only problem is our rooster is an excellent guard so when she comes to us, he naturally follows her to protect her. We may put him in the run tomorrow for a few minutes so the chickens can come over to us, which they like to do. Last time we did this the rooster was having fits because he couldn't get to the chickens to protect them.

Oh good, I'm glad that helped. One thing that helps sometimes is to offer JUST your rooster treats and say "bock bock" in a high pitched voice, like you are calling him for treats. He will (if he is a gentleman) offer it to his ladies, which gets him bonus points with the girls.

This is the most valuable thing I have found in making friends with roosters.

 

[Chic_girl]

Is there a way to put just one chicken on a 'diet', as opposed to a flock? My hope is that my Brahma girl will just work the weight off, especially in this heat, because it would be really hard to limit her feed intake while not limiting the entire flock's.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

My two, two year old BPR hens have stopped laying all toghether. They are looking pretty stout to me, compared to my Wellsummers and my Easter Eggers, who are the same age, and while not as productive as they were last summer, still producing an egg each every two days. I've read that being overweight can decrease egg production. So, how do I know whether they ar too fat, and if that is determined, how exactly do I take weight off. Run them on the treadmill? Put them on a low carb diet? What's worked for me doesn't seem sensible for a chicken.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Not all chickens have the same body size, shape or type of feathering. There is quite a difference between the breeds, similar to dog breeds looking quite different.. Some chickens have fluffier, looser feathering that makes them look larger, also. Brahmas are larger chickens. BPRs are larger looking than Wellsummers. Easter eggers that I've had were mixed with light weight breeds that are smaller than the heavy weight breeds that most people have. Unless your chickens are in small cages or sick, there weight is probably normal. I never have a problem with excess weight in my chickens. They eat what they need.

I like Feathersite for pictures, too. I think it helps to look at pictures on Feathersite and also to look at the Henderson's Breed Chart, for information on breed weight. On the chart, the left hand column with the picture for that breed has links to the breed pages at Feathersite and other sites, for convenience. FS is the link to the Feathersite page for that breed. Hatchery chickens often have weights and conformation that is different than show quality chickens. That's just something to keep in mind.

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html#Chickens

I hope this helps.