REALLY FAT CHICKENS!

[cheeptrick]

Thank you all for your responses. I feared they were getting too fat...but my chicken breeder friend came over and said they ARE normal...and to stop stressing that they are still young chickens growing. I misspoke when I said I gave them treats 'daily' sorry...I give them the cheese, couple slices of bologna, veggies and fruits probably twice a week. I was cooping them so they wouldn't hide their eggs in the 2 + acres of range they have available. If you are sure they will lay in the boxes and not somewhere out in the bushes...I'll let them FREE! They are all the same age so we'll all learn together when and where to lay! When I said cooped...I meant coop and run! Need to be more clear sorry!

 

[devora]

I know it can be so hard to be clear! Sometimes I write something and I re-read and realize that I wasn’t saying exactly what I wanted to say.

We treat ours daily. But no bologna!

I see what you mean about keeping them in, but ours free range on many acres and we’re hoping they lay in the nest boxes.

So far, so good.

There may be issues (I’m sure there will be: they’re chickens!) but they do leave eggies in the boxes.

Good luck!

 

[ruth]

Quote:
I do keep the dry chick feed available 24/7 - in their coop/run but it's literally the last thing they will eat - but...I let mine out to free range every morning and they stay out till evening when they return from the woods and surrounding bushes and put themselves to bed. During the day they come back to their coop/run often and eat from what's on the ground - chick feed and any leftover morning treats. Usually mid day they all come back for lunch and a nap in or near the coop/run. Morning and evening treats for the 9 chickens is usually a handful of shredded cheese (my chicks absolute favorite), a handful of black sunflower seeds, dry oatmeal, chopped up veggies or fruit and anything else I have on hand. Mine stay so active all day running, flying, scratching, chasing bugs that I think they need the fat/protein in the cheese and meats that I give them. They run and fly all over the place all day long except for a nap here and there. And for real fun - I buy a box of live crickets and they all go wild for them. Today they scarfed down 100 live crickets in about 2 minutes. Even the 3 week old baby buff orps ate their fill while making a game of chase out of it.

I don't think you have to worry about true "free range" chickens getting fat because they stay too active. By free range I don't mean confined to a small tractor that is moved every few days - I mean where they can roam, fly, run at will.

 

[devora]

Ruth--
We do the same w/ ours. They eat like pigs but they are fit lil' guys (well, gals). Man, they love cheese! It's a contest now which will make them more crazed, grapes or cheese.

 

[TxChiknRanchers]

Ruth, did "katrina" destroy the predators in Covington?

We have 5 acres in Southeast Texas on the edge of 50,000 acres of Lumber and hunting land and I'm pretty sure if our BO's had free run here they would not last a week. There are Coyotes, bobcats, freerange dogs, and countless coons and hawks here ( the big thicket).

I love the idea but we have lost one pullett to a predator that could not even get her out of the heavy wire tractor she was in during the middle of the day!

I am envious of the free range thing, we do let ours out almost every evening while we can watch them for an hour or so.

"Envious in Texas"

 

[ruth]

Quote:
No, Katrina didn't kill off our predators - we have every one God created. Watched 8 eagles fly over one morning - hawks daily. Foxes live on the property, including, according to our neighbor an albino fox. I wonder if the albino fox he sees each morning looks anything like my big white cat? Too many coons, possums, armadillos to count.

Every day during my many visits outside to sit and watch my chickens running free, I count my blessings. I love being outside with nature and having chickens has made it so much better. They are a joy to watch in their natural state. The 3 week old babies get the run of the run while the big girls are out all day. Our run is open and our coop is left open at night. The big girls free range all day but generally stick close to the coop/run area.

I can only attribute the fact that I haven't lost any to predators to 2 blessings: God and Rex. I ask God and his angels to watch over my chicks and Rex, my GSD, watches over us all. We also have a mutt, Lucy who doesn't allow any predators in our yard either but unlike Rex, she doesn't sleep with the chickens and always seem to be thinking about eating them for lunch. I think Rex keeps her in line also. Our chickens run free with our 4 cats and 2 dogs so any predator will have to stand in line.

Maybe the trick is to have so many predators watching over your chicks that the other predators just give up????

We have one cat Morris who follows them around and sleeps with them - go figure - it's either a long-term plan to make friends with them and put them at ease and then, pow - eat them one day - or he really thinks he's a chicken.