small chickens

[oandrea]

My friend and I got our chickens from the same hatch. We got them when they were around 9 weeks old and her chickens are now so much bigger than mine. Clearly I feed them every day and I have been watching their poo for worms... everything seems healthy but I keep wondering if there is something wrong that I am doing because hers are so much bigger than my girls. She feeds them more "scraps" than I do my girls, like bread and stuff, do you think that could make THAT much of a difference? My girls free range more than hers do too, hers are in a coop and run area most of the time where mine have about 1/8th of an acre to play on.

 

[vfem]

If someone put their silkies next to mine, mine would be the over weight elementary school kid who needs to take extra gym classes.


I give WAY too many scraps to the girls.

I'm sure they are a good healthy size and that's all. You shouldn't worry.

 

[silkiechicken]

It's possible that because yours get to free range, they are eating less of their formulated feed, and thus are growing slower. I've read a few accounts of people who say that their coop and run birds are "fatter" and shinier than their free range counterparts.

 

[Frizzledhen]

By bigger, do you mean weight wise? How old are they now? The fact that yours free range and are fed mainly chicken food, they are prabably very healthy and not over weight. Chickens who don't free range and are fed lots of treats usually will weigh more. You don't want your hens over weight because it can cause problems for them when they start laying.

 

[oandrea]

yes hers are bigger in all respects, so I guess fatter would be only a partial good fit, They seem slightly taller as well and their feet look larger (fatter).
hmmm, here I was thinking their might be something wrong with my girls, maybe I should warn her of the issues with overweight chickens??

ETA: They hatched at the beginning of june