Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

Great effort all around, you will all be in a remarkable shape in no time at all
I am afraid the Wyandotters may be a little too "lady like", I was never able to convince them to go outside in winter time, while the Ameraucanas were happy to do long distance flights over snow piles to get to a tuft of grass, Wyandottes not so much.
Adding my version of "quonsets" doubles the floor space for winter and they get to go sort of outside with fresh air and dry feet.
We live in a high predator area, so free range only when somebody is supervising.
Winter version gets a tarp wrap and door insert Summer version tarp for shade and rain protection

glad you know and glad its not an infectious disease. that liver colour really is telling isnt it? i was thinking about the coincidence of losing them so close together. i bought some freys barred rock day olds 5 years ago. had 3 of them left and lost all 3 in 3 days. i think it just goes to show how close the genetics are on all of the birds and being in the same environment they age the same rate. i know each one died of heart issues-the deep purple combs and they hadnt laid for a year...just living out retirement. and not surprised 5 years for a hatchery bird isnt bad.
and congrats on the fencing-not a fun job at all! tough work.

Reboot wrote: ↑

Sat May 11, 2019 7:16 am

This is a good lesson for us given we have expanded our homestead to include dairy goats this summer

Tell us about your goats.

Ontario Chick wrote: ↑

Sat May 11, 2019 10:12 am

Adding my version of "quonsets" doubles the floor space for winter and they get to go sort of outside with fresh air and dry feet.

Hey OC I like that covered run idea better than mine last year. It was all chicken wire top to bottom but I failed to include a way to get in there and shovel. Your idea saves me that hassle so thank you!

Nicely done, great pictures.
@poultry_admin any chance this could be moved to "Coop designs and building plans" ?
anybody looking for housing ideas isn't going to find this under "fatty liver"

done @Ontario Chick

Glad you found out that it was fatty liver disease and not something infectious. I have to admit, I think I have overfed my birds over the winter. I lost a Black Sex-link the other day, and I see another one with her tail down and slightly lethargic.
We have been letting them free range almost everyday when the weather is good, too. Yesterday, she wasn't moving well and sitting in the grass by the time I herded the flock into the pen. When I picked her up to put her with the rest, boy she was heavy! That means that one of my lightweight, prolific egg layers is obese! And it's my fault!
So I have cut down on the laying mash. Also, I no longer lift up any pieces of wood on the ground for them to get the worms underneath and do not give them meal worms with the bit of scratch at midday. Could be they were getting too much protein, too.

Oh... and since I was probably putting out too much feed in the winter, a lot more got flicked out of the feeder. Maybe they also ate bad food?

IMO I wouldn't worry about the layer mash since it is a balanced diet. I only feed extra corn or scratch in the winter after they have had their main feed for the day.

As I promised here is the Guelph Path Lab report on that fat chicken necropsy months ago. I just received the bill for it last week from our vet. Seeing as I paid for it I asked for a copy as some folks here were interested. Its a PDF so I hope it uploads. Second page came to me upside down in the pdf file so apologies as I can't fix it.

Absolutely fascinating.
I feel like I should be contributing to your vet bill.
I have never heard the term "over-conditioned" , but really prefer it to fat, so may appropriate it in the future for myself