Am I not feeding my chickens enough? Feeding them too much?

[akhadley]

I have two hens (RIR and EE) and one rooster (RIR). They are about 7-8 weeks old now.

My neighbor (I live in a fourplex) comes out a lot when I take the chickens out in the afternoon to free range in the yard and he has told me that my chickens are too light and too thin. He used to raise all kinds of birds, but for meat purposes. I am only raising for eggs (rooster was not an expected addition oh well!). He told me that they are getting "bored" with the pellets I am giving them (currently broiler grower) and that they stop eating when they get bored. He said "I love steak, but if I ate it everyday I'd get sick of it" ... and he basically said I should "deprive" them a little bit so that when I do feed them they will gorge and then eat a lot and thus get fatter. I didn't like the idea of that, so just gave a bit less food in the morning... but not really... and continued to give a few frozen treats on my lunch break (I live on Guam, so it is hot). Other friends of mine who raise chickens and really love them, kinda crazy love them, told me that my neighbor gave bad advice and that chickens know how much they need to eat to sustain themselves.

So I just feel confused because I get so many different messages from people. I can feel all three of their chest bones sort of poking out, and they are very light, but they are still very young and shouldn't necessarily be huge and fat right?

Currently, I give them scratch on the ground of their run and pellets in a feeder in the morning after they free range on grass and what not in my yard. It is usually all gone by the time I get home and then I let them out again to free range again then when I put them in for the night I give a bit of scratch (the ONLY way I get them back inside the run). And when I am able to, I give a small snack during my lunch break (usually a frozen fruit or something like cold noodles).

So ... am I doing okay? Are they kind of boney just because they are still pretty young? Should I be feeding more? Less? Something else? Maybe they have worms so they aren't gaining weight (though I have not seen anything unusual in their poo and their attitudes are good, they are eating, I see them drink, no cloudy eyes, no smelly crops...)?


*sigh* any advice would help.

Thanks

 

[ChickenLegs13]

Your friend doesn't have any diamonds to dazzle you with so he's baffling you with B.S.
I've never known any chicken to get bored with feed. 7-8 week old chickens are scrawny anyway, unless they're the big fat meat bird type. You should be bringing on the feed, not depriving them of it.
Hope this helps.

 

[SavageDestiny]

When I was concerned that one of my chickens was too fat, in my quest for answers I came across a useful article. It said that you should be able to easily feel the keel bone, but if you could pinch it between your fingers with no meat over it they were underweight. If there was "cleavage" over it they were overweight.

 

[Happy Feathers]

This page on BYC has a lot of the information you need to know: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...ks-the-first-60-days-of-raising-baby-chickens

I'm no real chicken expert, but I do know that the right nutrition is critical for proper health and growth. I met a gentleman in the store when I picked up my 5 week old Austrolorps who asked why his chicks, (same hatch date, bought same place), were only half the size of the ones I was picking up. We asked what he was feeding and his answer was much the same as what you posted. After we explained the differences in feeding, he bought the correct chick starting feed.

Happy Feathers

 

[yyz0yyz0]

Also consider your neighbors Steak analogy. Yes, I also love steak but would probably get bored of it if that's all I had to eat. But if I was hungry I would eat the steak bored or not.

Birds bred for meat will in general be bulkier then birds bred for eggs.