Owning chickens as pets in recent times has become so popular around the world, and for a good reason, it is because chickens make fantastic pets. In the short article, we will be discussing how much does a chicken weigh. A lot of people do not know the actual weight of a live chicken, and a few others only know what frozen chickens weigh.
Chickens sizes depend on Age, breed, and gender. Some chickens are big, and some are small; however, the post aims to provide you with the weight of live chickens and not dead ones.
The average adult chicken tends to weigh between 5 to 12 pounds. A species of chicken known as the Leghorns usually weigh about 3 to 7 pounds.
Roosters are bigger than hens, and they weigh between 11 and 18 pounds. Chicken bred explicitly for egg purposes weigh less than those ones bred for meat. The weight of chickens also depends on some factors, which include environmental factors, type of feed, and overall health. Some chickens are naturally big, while some are small.
Are Roosters Heavier Than Hens?
As earlier said, roosters are bigger and weigh more than hens of the same breed. Some factors can cause a rooster to have stunted growth. For instance, Disease or lack of proper nutrition can cause a problem during the growing period of a rooster, thereby making a hen of the same breed heavier.
Naturally, roosters need to be bigger to protect their flock and also defend themselves against other roosters.
How Much Does A Chicken Weigh?
The Small Chicken Breed
The smallest chicken breeds on earth are the Malaysian Serama Bantam chickens weighing around 1.10 pounds and height of about 6 to 10 inches. These breeds are known for their tiny statures and great egg layers.
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What Are other Small Chicken Breeds?
Some of the most popular small chicken breeds include Japanese Bantam, Old English Game, Sebright, and so on.
Sebright
Sebright chickens are ranked among the smaller species of chicken in the world. A Sebright rooster can weigh up to 22 oz while Sebright hens can reach about 20 oz at maximum. They are friendly, but their hens are not good egg setters or even layers.
Yokohama Chicken
Yokohama hens usually lay small eggs and are poor egg layers. Yokohama adult rooster weighs about 4.5 pounds, and then hen can weigh up to 3 pounds. The Yokohama is a German breed usually used in shows.
Lakenvelder
They are also known as the “shadow” on the street. They originated from Germany and Holland. Adult roosters can weigh up to 5 pounds, and the hens can weigh up to 4 pounds. Hens are very active and can lay up to 200 eggs per year.
Nankin Chickens
Nankin Chickens originated from south-east Asia. At adult, Nankin roosters can weigh up to 24 ounces, and the hens can reach 22 ounces. They can lay up to 100 eggs per year and are easy to care for.
Araucana
They are bred from South America, Chile. The color of their eggs depends on the color of the chicken. Araucana hens can lay up to 200 eggs per year. Araucana roosters can weigh about 5 pounds while their hens can weigh up to 4 pounds.
Hamburg
Hamburg hen can lay up to 250 eggs yearly; Hamburg Chickens originated from Holland. They are bad egg setters. Roosters can weigh up to 5 pounds, and the hens can weigh up to 4 pounds.
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Large And Medium Sized Chicken Breeds
Below are estimations of some Large and medium-sized chicken weights and how many eggs each breed are likely to lay in YEAR. This table statistics were obtained from Wikipedia
| Breeds | Rooster (pounds) | Hen (pounds) | Eggs (yearly on average) |
| Wyandotte | 8 | 6 | 200 |
| Ameraucana | 6.5 | 5.5 | 180-300 |
| Andalusian | 7 | 5 | 160 |
| Ancona | 5.5 | 4.5 | 200 |
| Australorp | 9 | 7 | 250 |
| Barnevelder | 7 | 5.7 | 175-250 |
| Ayam Cemani | 5.5 | 4 | 80 |
| Bielefelder | 10-12 | 7 | 200 |
| Buttercup | 6.5 | 5.5 | 180 |
| Black Star | 7-8 | 5 | 300 |
| Cochin | 11 | 8.5 | 140 |
| Brahma | 12 | 9.5 | 150 |
| Shamo | 11 | 7 | 100 |
| Sussex | 9 | 7 | 200 |
| Plymouth Rock | 9.5 | 7.5 | 200 |
| Orpington | 10 | 8 | 200 |
| Welsummer | 7 | 5.5 | 160 |
| White Faced Black Spanish | 8 | 5-6.5 | 160-180 |
| Turken | 8-9 | 6-7 | 70-100 |
| Campine | 6 | 5.5 | 160 |
Why Are Bantam Chickens so Small?
Search anywhere online, and you will find lots of articles about bantam chickens. Bantam chickens are one that is smaller in stature than large chicken breeds. These breed of chickens do not have a full-sized alternative within themselves. Raising bantam hens with regular roosters for chicks tends to reduce costs and can be sold as fryers.
These breeds display a form of dwarfism in them that is responsible for their small size. When a regular rooster meets a bantam chicken, and eggs are laid, it can cause problems for growing chicks. This technique has a risk associated with it.
Species of bantam chickens are:
- Booted Bantam (Sablepoot)
- Belgian d’Anvers
- Rosecomb Bantams
- Cochin Bantams
- Buff Brahma Bantams
- Sultan Bantam
- Silkie
- Japanese Bantam
- Serama Bantams
- Dutch Bantams
What is the Heaviest Chicken in the world?
Before we discuss the heaviest chicken in the world, we will compare three giant breeds. The three most popular giant breeds of chickens are the Jersey giant, the Malay, and the Brahma.
The Jersey Giant
This is an American breed of domestic chicken. As the name suggests, it’s was created in Burlington, New Jersey, and among the heaviest of all chicken breeds.
Jersey giant rooster can have a height of about 25 inches or about 2 feet and weigh about 15 pounds.
The Malay
The Malay is a breed of chicken and among the tallest kinds of chicken; the Malay is a breed in the United States, in Europe and Australia. Adult rooster can measure up to a height of 3 feet or 90 centimeters and weigh about 11 pounds.
The Brahma
The Brahma is a giant American breed of chicken. Its primary breeding purpose is for meat. Adult rooster can measure up to a height of about 30 inches and weigh about 12 pounds.
So, we can conclude that the Malay breeds hold the position for the tallest chicken in the world. However, in terms of the heaviest (in weight), the Jersey Giant wins. So, the heaviest chicken in the world is the Jersey Giant
How To Weigh A Live Chicken
Keeping records of the weight of chickens as well as the weight of feeds they consume helps farmers in lots of ways. It can help a farmer to know when a flock losses weight, signs of diseases, and a decrease in feed consumption. There are 2 major ways we usually use to weigh our chickens; they are:
Method 1: Weighing on a pet scale with a tray
This method is a little bit hard, especially if your chicken is not used to being handled, the method works perfectly for chicks. This method is usually the most accurate
- Put your scale in a closed area
- place a big folded towel on top of the scale tray
- Zero the scale with the big towel on it.
- Place the chicken on the towel
- Record the weight
Method 2: Hanging Upside Down with a hanging scale
This method is straightforward and doesn’t take time. This is the method we use for our adult chickens because if you do it properly, it shouldn’t stress you.
- Tie a rope or string around the feet of the chicken you want to weigh
- Flip your chicken in an upside-down position
- Hook the end of the rope or string to the scale
- Read the weight.
- After reading the weight, lose the chicken to go.
Related Question-
How Much Does A Chicken Breast Weigh?
Determining the weight of a chicken breast varies dues to different factors. Factors or variables such as:
- Bone-in or deboned
- Mass-produced, supermarket chicken, free-range or homegrown chicken
- Whole breast or filets
These factors above determine how much a chicken breast will weigh. You will notice that supermarket chickens weigh far more than individually or home-raised chickens. The corporate chicken farms will do everything possible to create a heavy-breasted chicken for commercial purposes.
Some of the things they do to create heavy and large size breasted chickens can be putting them in cages and giving them excess food, and they might use growth hormones on these chickens so they can be so big.
The hormones will cause the chickens to be so big, bulky, and plump and have heavy breasts, and this will definitely fetch them the highest market price.
Have you ever butchered a chicken you bred yourself? You will discover that they are different in size and even taste from the ones sold at the grocery stores or food market.
In the United States, the recommended serving sizes of chicken breasts are between 4-6 ounces but you are likely to get between 6 and 8 ounces because portion sizes need to look good when served. 4 and 6 sizes if plated may look so skinny.
If you can get local, free-range, raised chicken bred with natural foods, we advise you to go for it.
On average, a boneless chicken without skin is between 6 and 8 oz.
Conclusion: How Much Does A Chicken Weigh
A Chicken’s weight varies, and it depends on some predetermined genetics and breed and also their feed. Weight is a perfect tool that can give you an idea of how heavy or big a chicken is.
Tracking your chicken’s weight will also help you to monitor their health and whether to change their feeding program or continue. So, if you want to increase the size of your chickens and to know if they are in good shape, their weight can give you an idea. We hope you enjoyed our article on ” How Much Does A Chicken Weigh”…Please share.
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