Exercise for overweight chickens

It’s true — our chickens are overweight. The vet told Elizabeth that part of the reason Alana got so sick was obesity and that our birds would benefit from some exercise.

Margo approached me about how to get our flock into shape. I didn’t tell her at the time, but I immediately thought of the book Yoga for Chickens, by Lynn Brunelle.

Seeing as a yoga class for chickens would probably be pretty ineffective I decided to go another route. I used chicken wire and rebar to fence off an area in the garden and let them spend the day free-ranging and enjoying the change in scenery.

The area was part mulched path and part just-harvested beds. Both areas provided ample excitement for the girls. There were bugs! Worms! Snails! Fresh dirt to scratch!

Ruby, so excited by all the new dirt, forgets to wipe her beak.

Smart chickens know it’s important to stay hydrated while working out.

Hopefully between increased exercise and some potential diet changes (like not having food available 24/7) our girls will stay healthy and shed those extra pounds.