With all the care and guardianship we give our Gallus gallus , and as much as we would wish to see them live long , healthy lives , we might be unintentionally contributing to their premature death . Our chickens have headache Grandma ’s chicken never face : get under one’s skin fat .
amply grown , mature hens should not continue to gain weight . Just like human being , however , if your bird consumes more calories than it spend , it will . Given a chicken ’s unique biology , it first continue the weight in the form of excess fat in the abdomen and liver . As the hen continues to take in weight , fatness will eventually become palpable behind the tip of the keel os between it and the vent . Unfortunately , by the meter this abdominal fatty tissue pad is noticeable ( visually or palpably ) , serious liver damage has already happen .
Obesity can do diminish fertility , frequent multiple - yolked eggs , egg - bind and prolapsed vent . The two most rough-cut fleshiness - link up causes of end in laying hens are heat stroke and fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome , usually referred to as FLHS . agree to Mike Petrik , DVM , MS , a laying biddy veterinarian in Ontario , Canada , “ Obesity causes sudden death from FLHS , where the liver sate with juicy , becomes delicate , splits and causes the skirt to hemorrhage to dying . ” A minor impact to the chest or the abdominal pressure generated during egg - egg laying is enough to cause an weighty hen ’s delicate , juicy - occupy liver to shatter , cause her to phlebotomize to death internally .
With excess blubber in its abdominal cavity , red-hot weather condition becomes life menace to a biddy . Without sweat glands , the chicken relies upon internal respiration to regulate internal temperature , but when abdominal fat limits its ability to breathe right in eminent temperatures , the hen can die from heat stroke within a topic of minutes .
Fortunately , with a few common - sentiency modifications to their life style , obesity can be prevented and hold in .
1. Feed a Balanced Diet
“ feed a well - equilibrise ration with quite a little of B vitamins and choline help the hens metabolize fat more efficiently , ” Petrik says . leave a commercially prepared feed , as they ’ve been carefully formulate by poultry nutritionists who supervise the composition of ingredient to ensure that a hen ’s daily nutritional requirements are met . I powerfully recommend against dabble in assembling homemade feeds . fowl nutrition is complicated , and there is much more to it than simply getting the constituent right . Imprecise computation and missing , incorrect , or improperly store or prepared component can all result in fleshiness , as well as other behavioural and health takings .
2. Monitor Chicken Weight
Fully grown hen should maintain a logical weight . Changes in free weight in a mature biddy mean a trouble . Weigh your hen on a regular basis , -waiting until after dark when they ’ve gone to rest , as their night sight is poor and they ’re less likely to object to handling when half - asleep . Document the consequence and equate them to premature weigh - ins . If they ’re losing weight unit , there ’s likely a job ; confer your local domestic fowl medical specialist or vet for other polarity of distress . If they ’re reach system of weights , they ’re being overfed .
3. Limit Treats
goody , snacks and tabular array scraps can supercede a part of the daily , indispensable dietetic requirements receive in quality stratum rations . However , exuberant treats , even healthy ones , can lead to corpulency and other health complications , include . It ’s no secret that we delight spoiling our volaille with treats . We get a bang out of seeing them bleed to recognize us at the sight of a kickshaw container or the sound of the back door opening , but moderation and vulgar sense should be the template in treat selection and measure to keep their exercising weight under restraint and uphold their health .
4. Encourage Exercise
Free - range chicken are less probable to be rotund than confined chickens — recitation burns calories . But not all crybaby keepers are able to or choose to free - range their mess . hen that do not free - reach should be feed as big a yard as potential to maximise their power to exercise . The bare minimal sized yard or prevail generally agreed upon is 10 substantial feet per razz , but more space is always good .
If a ripe flock is gaining weight , the resolution is unproblematic : contract the daily dietary intake by 5 pct to 10 pct , and increase opportunities to exercise until the goal weight is reached .
While Grandma ’s nameless chickens were destined for the soup flowerpot , they unquestionably profit from a more instinctive , healthier lifestyle than most pet crybaby today . They ate like kings from nature ’s snack bar of exist food , customizing the menu to their nutritional needs without being tempt by treats from well - intentioned man . The absolute majority of today ’s preferent chicken do n’t forage the day away on plushy pastures , due to either place constraint or their keeper ’s desire to protect them from predators . As a final result , their pedometers do n’t torture up the land mile and their diets are keep in line artificially , not by them . While our over - feeding is unintentional , the possible costs to our crybaby are great . By being mindful of the need for balanced ration , moderate treat offerings and as much way to exercise as possible , we can maximize our chickens ’ wellness and provide them with the better opportunity at living a tenacious life .
This article was take out from the March / April 2014 issue ofHobby Farm Home .
