Obese free range chickens

Portugal Muscovy Novice · Apr 1, 2022

Ive searched existing posts but couldn't find an answer. I have a mixed bag of chickens over here. I have a healthy farmyard mix with genes mixed over years and years and I think some genetic challenges (we inherited them with the farm). I have introduced a new bloodline and I'm managing the genetics now. I mention this for background as im a bit lost here. We have 33 Hens and 2 cockerels at the moment the ages range from 3-12 months. I slaughter for consumption at 8-12 months and as mentioned this is all sorts of chickens, Hens and Cockerels. They are in a 1 Hectare field planted with Lupins, Wheat grasses, Clover, marigolds etc etc etc. a typical flower/hay field. They had Layer feed (15% protein and 5% fat) all day every day should they need it and I just kept it topped up. They eat the feed at different speeds; some days they eat a lot and other days (like after rain) they get enough worms and insects to satisfy even the hungriest of hens, so they eat hardly any food. They can free range all day and only Roost in a coop at night. Proper free range. One of my Orpingtons (not mixed breed in all of this) died the other day and it became apparent that she was very fat. fat around the heart, liver everywhere. in fact when I started the cleaning of the intestines fat gushed out. I was nearly sick. We then slaughtered 13 chickens after this event and boy oh boy were they fat (all different breeds/genetics as they are a proper mix like mentioned before). Because they are free ranging all day (or have the ability to free range) I thought that they might be eating too much as a whole so reduced on the food I gave them. I decided a week ago to only give them a quarter of what I think they ate in a day during the free for all feeding frenzy but they seem sooooooo hungry. They run to you, try and peck at your toes, run circles around you and they look desperate for food. Egg production also slowed down and instead of 5-7 eggs a day I get 2 or three a day now (I have ten Hens that lay eggs at the moment, not all 33 hens) I don't know what to do. I actually feel ashamed to post this. Will they stop begging for food or what do people do with 100% free range chickens?

K0k0shka · Apr 1, 2022

15 protein is very low. Aim for 18% at the very least, 20% is even better. If your protein is only 15%, and fat is 5% (which should be fine), that means there's more calories there that come from carbs, than there would be in an optimal feed that's 20% protein. Excess carbs make chickens (and people) fat. Chickens need lots of protein to be able to produce eggs, too. See if you can find a different feed, one that's 20% protein, and that might help. Under normal circumstances and with the proper feed, chickens should be able to have it available free choice without getting fat, whether or not they free range. But with the wrong kind of feed, things can get out of balance.

aart · Apr 1, 2022

Portugal Muscovy Novice said:
(15% protein and 5% fat)

Sure about the 5% fat?
My 20% protein flock raiser is only ~~0.5% fat~~.
ETA I misread my label, it's 3.5% fat.

Portugal Muscovy Novice · Apr 1, 2022

aart said:
Sure about the 5% fat?
My 20% protein flock raiser is only 0.5% fat.

Yes that’s what it says on the label. I just double checked.

Portugal Muscovy Novice · Apr 1, 2022

K0k0shka said:
15 protein is very low. Aim for 18% at the very least, 20% is even better. If your protein is only 15%, and fat is 5% (which should be fine), that means there's more calories there that come from carbs, than there would be in an optimal feed that's 20% protein. Excess carbs make chickens (and people) fat. Chickens need lots of protein to be able to produce eggs, too. See if you can find a different feed, one that's 20% protein, and that might help. Under normal circumstances and with the proper feed, chickens should be able to have it available free choice without getting fat, whether or not they free range. But with the wrong kind of feed, things can get out of balance.

I’ll see what I can find. The carb/protein ratio makes sense.

K0k0shka · Apr 1, 2022

aart said:
Sure about the 5% fat?
My 20% protein flock raiser is only 0.5% fat.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0377840116300293

“ 20 to 50 g/kg fat is usually added in commercial poultry diets depending on the relative prices of fat and cereal grains. The addition of fat above 40 g/kg is generally avoided in pelleted diets because of the negative effects on pellet quality (Abdollahi et al., 2013a).”

Apparently adding 2-5% of fat to poultry feed is standard practice. How much exactly probably depends on the type of feed - layer, broiler, etc. 0.5% seems kinda low…

KRack · Apr 1, 2022

I have no advice but hope to 100% free range someday, so I'm following along to learn!

aart · Apr 1, 2022

Portugal Muscovy Novice said:
Yes that’s what it says on the label. I just double checked.

Apologies, I misread my label, fixed my previous post.

aart said:
Sure about the 5% fat?
My 20% protein flock raiser is only ~~0.5% fat~~.
ETA I misread my label, it's 3.5% fat.

NatJ · Apr 4, 2022

If a hen goes broody, she will live on that stored fat while she's sitting on eggs. So sometimes being fat is useful to a hen. (Obviously, it can be taken too far, and it sounds like some of your birds did take it too far.)

But I would guess they are getting fat more from what they find while ranging, than from the purchased food.

I agree with the suggestions to get a higher protein food, and go back to making it available free-choice.

Opiumbrella · Apr 27, 2022

Portugal Muscovy Novice said:
Ive searched existing posts but couldn't find an answer. I have a mixed bag of chickens over here. I have a healthy farmyard mix with genes mixed over years and years and I think some genetic challenges (we inherited them with the farm). I have introduced a new bloodline and I'm managing the genetics now. I mention this for background as im a bit lost here. We have 33 Hens and 2 cockerels at the moment the ages range from 3-12 months. I slaughter for consumption at 8-12 months and as mentioned this is all sorts of chickens, Hens and Cockerels. They are in a 1 Hectare field planted with Lupins, Wheat grasses, Clover, marigolds etc etc etc. a typical flower/hay field. They had Layer feed (15% protein and 5% fat) all day every day should they need it and I just kept it topped up. They eat the feed at different speeds; some days they eat a lot and other days (like after rain) they get enough worms and insects to satisfy even the hungriest of hens, so they eat hardly any food. They can free range all day and only Roost in a coop at night. Proper free range. One of my Orpingtons (not mixed breed in all of this) died the other day and it became apparent that she was very fat. fat around the heart, liver everywhere. in fact when I started the cleaning of the intestines fat gushed out. I was nearly sick. We then slaughtered 13 chickens after this event and boy oh boy were they fat (all different breeds/genetics as they are a proper mix like mentioned before). Because they are free ranging all day (or have the ability to free range) I thought that they might be eating too much as a whole so reduced on the food I gave them. I decided a week ago to only give them a quarter of what I think they ate in a day during the free for all feeding frenzy but they seem sooooooo hungry. They run to you, try and peck at your toes, run circles around you and they look desperate for food. Egg production also slowed down and instead of 5-7 eggs a day I get 2 or three a day now (I have ten Hens that lay eggs at the moment, not all 33 hens) I don't know what to do. I actually feel ashamed to post this. Will they stop begging for food or what do people do with 100% free range chickens?

Orpingtons are prone to this. I would agree about upping the protein, and not withholding food. It should be available feee choice, especially in a large flock, there will be those not allowed food when it restricted. You can also try fermenting the feed, I’ve found my older/large breed girls shaped up nicely when I started fermenting their feed.

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