Best high protein food for thin hen

[lcammack]

Thats okay, I am glad that you got your questions answered. I guess I was more wondering about amounts, I just seperated her and gave her a mix of canned 95% duck (just what we had, our cat is really picky) grain free cat food mixed with a scrambled egg (omg that was smelly!) she chowed it down, but I want to make sure that I don't keep her from eating her regular ration as well, don't want her missing any vitamins etc. I gave her 1 egg mixed with about 1 heaping tablespoon of cat food. She did share this with her best buddie our other BLRW.

 

[mcjessen]

Quote:
Maybe stick with the amount you did today for a couple more days and see if you notice her putting on weight. I have no idea how fast they can put on weight. Or, maybe someone with more experience adding weight to chickens will chime in soon. Good luck!

 

[lishah2000]

I have a really thin hen right now too. Happened fast - I pick her up almost every night, she is spoiled and needs a lift into the coop. She is molting.

Thought it was another hen bullying so I moved that hen. After that I could tell she just isn't eating the feed. Got two different types of feed and she still isn't eating much of it. Got layer of a different brand and starter of the same brand as their regular feed, she eats some of the starter. Eats anything else like crazy. I'm giving her eggs, cat food and meal worms right now. Some greens also. She will also eat scratch and BOSS.

I've also noticed I'm going through a lot more feed, but the birds still seem hungry. (I keep the bowls full, but they attack it like they are starving every time I put more in.) Had this once before and changed feeds for awhile and things improved. A few others are starting to look thin, but not like this one.

I my case I think it's the feed. Can't say what because I go through two bags a week so it doesn't sit long.

 

[flowerchild59]

It sounds like they need to be wormed. Worm the whole flock with valbazen. There is a lot of info on here regarding worming. One of the first things to catch my eye when my whole flock was parasite ridden (with roundworms) , was they they weren't gaining weight properly and it progressed rapidly to coughing, foul stools, as the worms took their toll. They never miss a meal, you know. Til you worm them, the parasites will continue taking what they want.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=576036&p=1

 

[ChicKat]

flowerchild59 has some really good advice.

Also if one is not getting access to feed, maybe consider additional feeding stations.

We hesitate to feed any feed back to any of our animals that contains that same animal. I.e. cat food that would have chicken by products being fed to chickens. Just read the label I guess. Cattle getting feed with beef byproducts was one of the ways that BSE was spread (aka Mad Cow disease). Just a note of caution for your consideration for those who care to err on the side of caution.

Do post back to tell us how she does, if she gains and what you did to solve the problem.

 

[lcammack]

Flowerchild59, thanks for that great link, lots of reading. Is Valbazen something that is most often needing to be ordered? It sounds like this would be a great place to start. Though other then the this one hen all the others seem to be thriving, normal poo, beautiful feathers, healthy weight, etc. But I guess if I am going to treat one I should treat them all...Thanks again

 

[Jake Levi]

I would worm the whole flock, going into winter it has got to help.

I feed meat scraps when I can, a very thin one would get some grnd beef, and also canned cat food, chickens are omnivores, something to keep in mind.

 

[lcammack]

Thank you Jake, we do feed meat scraps whenever we have some. Chickens are definitely not vegetarians! I was able to find some Valbazen locally (holy cow it is expensive, they only had the pint size bottle) so I will be worming the whole flock this afternoon and I will quarentine the thin one so it has extra food available 24/7 if I feel it needs it. I hate to take it out of the flock since it is low man on the totem pole, the reintroduction could be pretty rough on her. But I will do it if she starts to look weaker. For now I will seperate her just to give her some extra protein while the others have there daily snack. Do you know how quickly the wormer should take affect and she should start to put on some weight if this is what the issue is? I am new to chickens so I don't know how fast they do/should put on weight.

 

[Coffeemama7]

We had a couple thin, lethargic girls. We feed no soy, corn or meat by products in our homemade feed.
We added Bragg's apple cider vinegar to the water, and diatomacious (sp?) earth to their feed.
In one week everyone was doing better! Bragg's is an all natural, cheaper, non-medicated alternative.
The eggs continued to be edible!

 

[lcammack]

Thank you for your idea, we unfortunately cannot use ACV because we use a galvanized waterer and I have heard that they react to each other. I have heard that ACV is a good preventative, but if the hen actually has a large worm load it would not help, so I guess we will see how she does, fingers crossed. I would rather lose some eggs then my hen.