Tallying my hen's weight- are they healthy?

[The WinterWolf]

This is the first time I've done this. I didn't include ounces because they are squirmy. This thingy includes their weight, age, and breed.

Sprinkles:
Age: 2 years
Weight: 3 pounds
Breed: White Cochin bantam

Tuna:
Age: 1 year
Weight: 4 pounds
Breed: Partridge Cochin

Ash:
Age: 1 year
Weight: 4 pounds
Breed: Rhode island red


Juniper:
Age: 1 year
Weight: about 5 pounds
Breed: barred rock

Stilts:
Age: 1 year
Weight: 4 pounds
Breed: Delaware

Kilo hen:
Age: 2 years
Weight: 4 pounds
Breed: Mystic onyx

Doctor pooper:
Age: 1 year
Weight: about 4 pounds
Breed: barred rock

Cheepo:
Age: 1 year
Weight: 3.5 pounds
Breed: speckled Sussex

Taco:
Age: 1 year
Weight: 4 pounds
Breed: Welsummer


Oof, that's it! Sorry for almost completely wasting your time

 

[NatJ]

This is the first time I've done this. I didn't include ounces because they are squirmy. This thingy includes their weight, age, and breed.
[...]
Oof, that's it! Sorry for almost completely wasting your time

Thanks for posting this!

It is easy to find how much a breed is "supposed" to weigh, but finding how much they really do weigh is much harder. (Hatcheries tend to breed chickens that are somewhat the wrong size, but it's hard to know how far wrong they are, so I'm happy to see some actual numbers.)

Edit: just noticed the question in the title.
Yes, those are probably healthy weights for your chickens, if they are acting normal and look healthy.

 

[JedJackson]

According to prescribed standards they are underweight, but that doesn't mean they are unhealthy. Signs of health include bright combs, bright eyes, energetic behavior, staying active, good appetite, laying well, good plumage, and so many other things that are hard to describe.

If you are concerned, you can send their droppings into a lab to determine if they have worms that could be causing them to be underweight.

 

[3KillerBs]

Since you can't count on hatchery birds to be up to the breed standard, you might want to use a condition check to asses their health instead of just the weight.

 

[The WinterWolf]

Thank you all for your reply! I tried to get a photo of their combs and breasts, but with some of them it's pretty much impossible. Sorry for making you guys scroll up, look at their weights, scroll down, look at them. But anyway..

Here's an extremely futile attempt at taking a picture of Taco. I posted this one separately because it has text under it.

 

[The WinterWolf]

 

[NatJ]

I'm not an expert, but they look OK to me.

For checking their breasts, that is something you have to do by feel. Feathers make it almost impossible to see how fat or skinny a chicken is.

Listing weights for chicken breeds is like listing height for dog breeds: it gives a goal to aim for, but not all of them actually have the right genes to be that size. Hatcheries in general are known for producing chickens that are healthy at a different weight than their breed is "supposed" to be.

If they have all-day access to appropriate chicken food & water, and no other health problems, they are probably fine. Most chickens are quite good at eating the right amount of food for their own needs.

 

[Aunt Angus]

What I do is keep track of their weight. In your case, I'd weight them a few times over the next month to see what is normal for your chickens. If they are healthy (which they seem to be), you shouldn't see much fluctuation. Then you'll be able to tell if they are over/under weight by comparison to their "normal." Just be sure to weigh them around the same time of day.

How do you weigh them?

 

[Shadrach]

This is the first time I've done this. I didn't include ounces because they are squirmy. This thingy includes their weight, age, and breed.

Sprinkles:
Age: 2 years
Weight: 3 pounds
Breed: White Cochin bantam

Tuna:
Age: 1 year
Weight: 4 pounds
Breed: Partridge Cochin

Ash:
Age: 1 year
Weight: 4 pounds
Breed: Rhode island red


Juniper:
Age: 1 year
Weight: about 5 pounds
Breed: barred rock

Stilts:
Age: 1 year
Weight: 4 pounds
Breed: Delaware

Kilo hen:
Age: 2 years
Weight: 4 pounds
Breed: Mystic onyx

Doctor pooper:
Age: 1 year
Weight: about 4 pounds
Breed: barred rock

Cheepo:
Age: 1 year
Weight: 3.5 pounds
Breed: speckled Sussex

Taco:
Age: 1 year
Weight: 4 pounds
Breed: Welsummer


Oof, that's it! Sorry for almost completely wasting your time

You need to include the ounces to make weighing make any sense.
A single data point doesn't really tell you much. What can be informative is weighing a bird multiple times over a period of time.
A chicken losing weight, or gaining weight over a period of time may indicate there is a problem before any signs of ill health are apparent. As an example, water belly (ascites) may be responsible for an increase in weight due to the retention of water.
What is considered an average weight for a bird is just that, an average. To make that average useful one needs to know the range of weights that produced that average.
To make the point, a dead chicken weighs the same as a live chicken but obviously one isn't healthy.
If you are interested in information about your chickens health using it's weight as a guide (well worth doing if you only have a few chickens but not really practical if you have lots) then find a container with a lid (please don't forget to make sure the container has air holes so the chicken can breath), weight the container precisely and then place the chicken in the container and weigh them both together. I am told a non transparent (dark with lid closed) helps to keep the chicken still while you weigh.
The easiest time to weigh is after the chicken has gone to roost. Take the scales and box to the coop rather than take the chicken into the house. Take the chicken off the roost and place it in the box and weigh. This should help reduce the stress on the chicken.
One you have done say a weighing once a week over a period of time you will have some useful data.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I put my chickens in a reusable grocery bag and use a fish scale - haha!