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In reading about chicken diseases, I see the symptom "loss of thrift" or "lack of thriftiness" often listed. What does that mean? I looked in your glossary above and didn't see it, plus the dictionary seems to indicate that my hens may be prone to frivolous spending (ha ha). If I am checking my hens "thriftiness," what exactly am I looking for? The wording seems to indicate something about their appearance (or should I be checking their closets for too many shoes, more ha ha ha)...

A thrifty animal is in good flesh, not fat, not skinny on a normal ration for that type animal, and is able to maintain that fit. A Dutch(Which requires little feed) and a large fowl Rock(which can consume much more feed) are of greatly differing sizes but either can be thrifty for that breed.

Rob -- oh, I see. That makes sense, that healthy hens of any breed make the best use of the food they do eat. I guess my hens have all been so healthy looking that I don't really know yet what an UNhealthy bird looks like. I guess I will know "loss of thriftiness" when I see it, boo hoo! Thank you, by the way, for your comments to my post in the Poultry Health section re: free ranging. I am hopeful that what you said about weaker birds being "culled by nature" (or me) but others becoming stronger through exposure to imperfect surroundings is true. I understand that I may lose some of my birds to illness (or coyotes!), but I'd hate to lose too many of them! I've grown to adore those handsome ladies. (Roosters are another matter -- mmmm, those tasty roosters!)

Culled by nature; I wasnt really refering to predation, they do need some help there as in my experiences, the damn predators usually take the best specimens! That could be due to the fact the birds are confined and just cant escape..