My meat chickens are now 6 weeks and are suffering from ascites (waterbelly) and I have lost a few (from heart attacks I presume!) I realise that there is little I can do for these chickens now as they are already in heart failure but what sort of humane feed restriction regime is there that I can put the next batch on to prevent them from eating themselves to death? All my chickens have access to plenty of foraging space, but I have to really encourage them to get out coz they would prefer just to sit in front of the feeders all day! Would putting them on a 20% less ad lib diet or no food at night diet be an option? Are these cruel?
