Putting fat chickens on a diet

[K0k0shka]

2 CUPS a DAY???

Yeah, seriously math impaired.

Either seriously math impaired, or seriously inexperienced with chickens, or probably both...

If you have chicks every year then am I right in assuming you eat your chickens?
If so, does it really matter if they are, if they are, overweight?

I have a core flock of pet chickens who are guaranteed their retirement, and additionally I raise chicks for meat every year (dual purpose breeds). So it matters if the pets are overweight, because I want them to be healthy and live good, long lives. For the meat chickens, it doesn't matter. The one in the picture, and the ones I'm concerned about, are the pet chickens.

The trouble with skinning birds is that I loose thet big blob of fat around their rear end. I wonder if it's possible to scrape it out and save it in a jar for cooking.

Why would you lose that? It's not part of the skin, so you can still take the skin off, and then separate out the flat blob when you start gutting, and save it for later. I save mine for cooking. It's the first thing I pull out when I start gutting the chicken, it comes out in one piece and is very easy to remove and save.

 

[Maddcatter]

I knew I'd be getting lazy birds prone to obesity when I built my setup, so I don't have ramps or ladders anywhere - they need to jump to get places. I know they can't jump high so they have mid-level logs or branches as stepping stones. I built them a jungle gym thing for the run, but they only ever use the bottom one or two levels...

I have orps. I also feed them hard boiled eggs and spinach (which they seem to think is crack). I have found that they're fond of cabbage as well, so I hang a cabbage from a study wire in my chicken run. Cabbage is about 2.5 feet off the ground (I measured how high they'd eaten the leaves off a bush to get the height). Chickens happily jump to get the cabbage, and it's a leafy green.as the chickens jump and peck, the cabbage bounces and swings. It's entertaining and exercise.

Tbf, I can free range mine, and I do... But the cabbage thing should work for you.

 

[Silexian]

Since chickens store most of their fat internally. How is your vet determining obesity in your chickens? Orpingtons are loose feathered. Making them appear larger, while in actuality there is probably no size difference between them and your Barnevelders. Back when we still got the fry pan special, from Cackle hatchery. To give us enough roosters to fill the freezer. The Orpingtons didn’t dress out any better than the Rhode Island Reds or Barred Rocks. Which were the main breeds in that offering. Even though their loose feathering, made them appear larger. I usually check the keel to determine if a bird is too thin. To me a full round keel is a sign of good health. I have processed thousands of chickens. The only ones that I have seen with excessive internal fat. Was my first batch of Cornish Cross. Which I unknowingly over fed. They are the only breed I have owned, that need a limited feed intake.

 

[Amer]

I would recommend checking the vent area for excess fat rather than the keel bone. I have had some overweight hens and the “butt” is where the excess fat is distributed. The pubic bones should be prominent and the area between the keel and pubic bones should not feel squishy or swollen.

 

[Maddcatter]

She absolutely would not like one of my roosters then. He's at least 10lbs

My orp rooster is 8.7 lbs.... He is not fat, I think the vet is high.

Tbf, some of my hens are probably 8 lbs, but none of them have me any reason to wiegh them.

If you don't like your vet, your animals probably don't like them either, so given what's going on maybe you should find a new vet?

I have now reached the end of the thread, and the op is already gonna do (or currently does) the things I suggested.

Maybe try hanging a cabbage at the top of the jungle gym?

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

If your chickens are overweight, they need more exercise. Period, end of story. Most chickens that are overweight, I will take a guess, do not free range. You ever see a hen workin' an area? There is a graceful, cadence that appears natural and necessary. My gals only become like that while free ranging and they find a spot that most likely has goodies.
I am sure to take my girls out to 'exercise' daily. same way you take a dog out to walk. This is all my opinion of course!

 

[SinnahSaint]

I’d trust a breeder over a vet because the vets are busy with a bazillion varieties of animals and the breeder has experience with that particular type of that particular animal.

 

[countryladyNH]

I have English Orpingtons, which are prone to obesity. I used to give them treats only about once a week (a handful of scratch for 8 hens), the rest of the time they only eat their crumble (Purina flock raiser). However, they are still overweight (said their vet). I stopped even the once a week treats, but I don't think that's enough. How do I put them on a diet, given that if I restrict the feed, the pushier ones will eat more and the meeker ones will not get enough? I also have some Barnevelders in with them, who are a normal weight but rank lower and will definitely not get enough if I restrict the feed. So... What are my options here? I was thinking maybe I can feed them a bunch of roughage that's high volume and low calorie (leafy greens, vegetable peels from the kitchen, etc.) to displace some of the feed. They'd still have their crumble free choice, but if they fill up on greens, maybe they'll eat less of the feed and their total calorie intake will drop some. What do you think? Any other ideas?

@ColtHandorf how do you keep your beauties from getting too fat for their own good? I love their round fullness, but it's not good for them... My favorite one (pictured here) has another issue which is being complicated by her excessive weight

View attachment 3463952

Hi Kokoshka!
Haven't heard from you since the great neighbor-chicken-roof debacle! Hope all is well on that front! We started with Buff Orpingtons in 2016 and still have some. None of ours ever got fat, so I have no great advice...Just wanted to say hi!

 

[mchickies]

I have English Orpingtons, which are prone to obesity. I used to give them treats only about once a week (a handful of scratch for 8 hens), the rest of the time they only eat their crumble (Purina flock raiser). However, they are still overweight (said their vet). I stopped even the once a week treats, but I don't think that's enough. How do I put them on a diet, given that if I restrict the feed, the pushier ones will eat more and the meeker ones will not get enough? I also have some Barnevelders in with them, who are a normal weight but rank lower and will definitely not get enough if I restrict the feed. So... What are my options here? I was thinking maybe I can feed them a bunch of roughage that's high volume and low calorie (leafy greens, vegetable peels from the kitchen, etc.) to displace some of the feed. They'd still have their crumble free choice, but if they fill up on greens, maybe they'll eat less of the feed and their total calorie intake will drop some. What do you think? Any other ideas?

@ColtHandorf how do you keep your beauties from getting too fat for their own good? I love their round fullness, but it's not good for them... My favorite one (pictured here) has another issue which is being complicated by her excessive weight

View attachment 3463952

I don't know if any of this info will help, but here's everything that I did. So, back in 2021 my Barred Rock hens were a little over a year old. We had two hens die within a week of each other of Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome (confirmed by state necropsy). Now, I'm convinced that my hens would've survived just fine, but the hemorrhaging was brought on by excessive heat. They were way too fat to cool themselves down!

First thing we did was to restrict all treats that weren't some form of veg. Now, we couldn't put the whole flock on a lower-feed diet because only 6 out of 14 chickens were candidates for losing weight. The other 7 hens and my Roo-Roo were either perfectly healthy or a little underweight. They couldn't afford a diet! So, what I did was monitor all of the hens' crops when they went up on the perch at night. Turns out, the fattest hens had crops that were so full some of them would be doing this swallowing motion, as if they couldn't keep it down . The healthy or thinner hens had more conservative sized crops or less food overall.

So, the ultimate solution was to allow everyone food pretty much the whole day, but restrict right before they go to bed. Chickens naturally fill themselves up a ton right before bed because they'll be digesting all night. So, I got a little pen to put the fatter hens in when I decided they'd eaten enough (I would feel crops). Then, my healthy/skinny hens (some of which were lower in the pecking order) were able to eat. To be very clear, I stopped ALL restrictions during their molt and the winter, because they dropped weight anyway.

This was only a problem during my hen's first year. Now, they're all maintaining a healthy weight and I NEVER have problems with overeating anymore. So, I have no idea what caused the Great Gluttony Epidemic of '21, but the hens seem ok now. Also, just a note, but I actually use New Country Organics Corn-Free Layer Feed now to cut down on the amount of calories during the summer months (they don't need their food so calorically dense when it's hot). I use the corn version during the winter and molting season. Hoping you can figure something out!

Edit: I wanted to add that I never went by weight when judging who was fat. This was because a few of my fatter hens weighed the same as a hen that was in perfect shape (she's a taller hen with larger bones). I always felt the keel bone, running my finger all the way down to their abdomen. Hens will naturally store any excess fat in their abdomen, but it's when there is an exaggerated pad of fat in between your finger and the end of the keel bone (erm...the butt-bone?) that you know there's a problem. My hens are fine now so I rarely feel this anymore, but it really is like a pad of smooshiness, stopping you from feeling the "butt-bone." Definitely try feeling your skinnier hens to understand exactly what you're trying to find. Some of my perfectly healthy hens had a little bit of fat there, but you could still feel the bone.

 

[Amer]

I don't know if any of this info will help, but here's everything that I did. So, back in 2021 my Barred Rock hens were a little over a year old. We had two hens die within a week of each other of Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome (confirmed by state necropsy). Now, I'm convinced that my hens would've survived just fine, but the hemorrhaging was brought on by excessive heat. They were way too fat to cool themselves down!

First thing we did was to restrict all treats that weren't some form of veg. Now, we couldn't put the whole flock on a lower-feed diet because only 6 out of 14 chickens were candidates for losing weight. The other 7 hens and my Roo-Roo were either perfectly healthy or a little underweight. They couldn't afford a diet! So, what I did was monitor all of the hens' crops when they went up on the perch at night. Turns out, the fattest hens had crops that were so full some of them would be doing this swallowing motion, as if they couldn't keep it down . The healthy or thinner hens had more conservative sized crops or less food overall.

So, the ultimate solution was to allow everyone food pretty much the whole day, but restrict right before they go to bed. Chickens naturally fill themselves up a ton right before bed because they'll be digesting all night. So, I got a little pen to put the fatter hens in when I decided they'd eaten enough (I would feel crops). Then, my healthy/skinny hens (some of which were lower in the pecking order) were able to eat. To be very clear, I stopped ALL restrictions during their molt and the winter, because they dropped weight anyway.

This was only a problem during my hen's first year. Now, they're all maintaining a healthy weight and I NEVER have problems with overeating anymore. So, I have no idea what caused the Great Gluttony Epidemic of '21, but the hens seem ok now. Also, just a note, but I actually use New Country Organics Corn-Free Layer Feed now to cut down on the amount of calories during the summer months (they don't need their food so calorically dense when it's hot). I use the corn version during the winter and molting season. Hoping you can figure something out!

Edit: I wanted to add that I never went by weight when judging who was fat. This was because a few of my fatter hens weighed the same as a hen that was in perfect shape (she's a taller hen with larger bones). I always felt the keel bone, running my finger all the way down to their abdomen. Hens will naturally store any excess fat in their abdomen, but it's when there is an exaggerated pad of fat in between your finger and the end of the keel bone (erm...the butt-bone?) that you know there's a problem. My hens are fine now so I rarely feel this anymore, but it really is like a pad of smooshiness, stopping you from feeling the "butt-bone." Definitely try feeling your skinnier hens to understand exactly what you're trying to find. Some of my perfectly healthy hens had a little bit of fat there, but you could still feel the bone.

I think this is actually some really useful advice. Experience helps!