Putting fat chickens on a diet

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We now have only 2 hens left of our original 4. 2 of the girls died last year of unknown causes. We do free range the girls, but they are so overweight, they don't like moving around too much and just find a nice spot to simply sit! I found one of them, lying down while eating bugs! The height of laziness! They only get layers pellets - no treats - I don't know what else to do - I've started restricting their feed - I had been filling the hopper with pellets and allowing them to feed whenever, but they seem to have no self discipline - so eat it all! They are rescue hens, we've had them for nearly 2 years, they no longer lay eggs, which I think might be down to overweight! I've tried chasing them about our large garden, but they don't like it! Help - what else can I do?
 
KazzaMags said:
We now have only 2 hens left of our original 4. 2 of the girls died last year of unknown causes. We do free range the girls, but they are so overweight, they don't like moving around too much and just find a nice spot to simply sit! I found one of them, lying down while eating bugs! The height of laziness! They only get layers pellets - no treats - I don't know what else to do - I've started restricting their feed - I had been filling the hopper with pellets and allowing them to feed whenever, but they seem to have no self discipline - so eat it all! They are rescue hens, we've had them for nearly 2 years, they no longer lay eggs, which I think might be down to overweight! I've tried chasing them about our large garden, but they don't like it! Help - what else can I do?
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Are the hens you're speaking of the ones in your avatar? They appear to be cornishXs!
 
U_Stormcrow said:
I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought they looked like Cx - but I'm so bad at breed ID I didn't have the courage to say anything.
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I don't think they look quite round enough to be actual Cornish Cross, especially considering their ages (it sounds like they all lived until they were rescued, then another year, and the remaining two are definitely over 2 years old.) Cornish Cross are not known for living even close to 2 years.

But I don't think they look like Leghorns, either. And they are not acting like Leghorns.

Maybe they were breeding stock for some kind of meat bird? Since the Cornish Cross is a hybrid, the parents are not exactly the same as the Cornish Cross chicks that are raised for meat.
 
NatJ said:
I don't think they look quite round enough to be actual Cornish Cross, especially considering their ages (it sounds like they all lived until they were rescued, then another year, and the remaining two are definitely over 2 years old.) Cornish Cross are not known for living even close to 2 years.

But I don't think they look like Leghorns, either. And they are not acting like Leghorns.

Maybe they were breeding stock for some kind of meat bird? Since the Cornish Cross is a hybrid, the parents are not exactly the same as the Cornish Cross chicks that are raised for meat.
Click to expand...
I've raised cornishX and several other types of broiler hens to a year/year and a half many times with no issues, other than obesity, before processing them. I'm sure many of them would have made it to two or even beyond.

ETA- I shouldn't say no issues, because they all likely had some degree of fatty liver disease, but I've never had one die before it came time to harvest them. I actually have two red broiler hens right now that are around 4 years old.
 
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Here's a pic of one that was over a year old.

1686850795676.jpeg
 

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