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They aren't Cornish, are they? It sounds like they are growing to fast. When I started raising chickens, I was warned from multiple sources to avoid over feeding to much protien. The results are what you describe, a body that gew so much faster then the legs, that the legs are unable to support them. The word I get is that Cornish are the worst, since they are bred to be fully grown within nine weeks. I haven't seen this condition in any of my birds, yet but it's only been four years of raising them. I start mine out with medicated starter. I buy one bag for every twenty chicks. When they have eaten the entire bag, I feed them a crushed version of the standard pellets that we feed adult hens when they are not laying, which is a basic low protien all stock around 10%. My little girl simply smashes the all stock in a dedicated blender. I also renew the water with vigilance. One year I used crushed bread to mix with the rations. I frequently do this with the adults, as a bakery and a Subway give me unusable bread for them, but this was the only time I tried it with the chicks. They did not suffer any problems from it, so if I reach a point where I have excessive old bread, beyond what the adult hens will eat, I may try it again, but the adult hens enjoy it far more. Let me ask your opinion. Would you say that the young chickens that you mentioned are experiencing a growth of their bodies that excedes their legs ability to support? Post a picture, if you could, as I have never actually seen this happen, though I am constantly warned of it.
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