Blue bell

[Jen olley]

Hi im fairly new to chicken keeping and have two lovely birds at present. We have a black rock (goldie) and a blue bell (hermione) their about 25 weeks and have started to lay. Problem is with hermione i have noticed her keel bone is very promenet. Her crop is always full at the end of the day and empty in the morning. Fresh water is always avalable and they both free roam. They get good layer pellets. Just hermione seams skinny goldie is a nice weight. Poo all seams normaly and under a microscope no eggs or worms are present. My question is is hermione just going through a gangly stage or is there somthing more going on.

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to BYC, we are glad you joined us! Did you check her poop or did you have a vet check it?
Are you feeding a complete feed or could she be filling up on treats?

This video will help you learn how to navigate this site:

 

[Jen olley]

Vets checked her poop, she eats for england, im feeding layer pellets but adding greens aswell before they are allowed to roam but she eats drinks poops and has started to lay aswell just het keel seam to be very promenet so to me seams very skinny

 

[Kiki]

You could buy a higher protein feed to offer for a while?

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC I had a lovely Bluebell hen for a long time and I remember her being rather "lightweight" whenever I picked her up, though she was healthy, ate well and laid up a storm. My Sussex hen by comparison weighed like a bag of bricks. I'd say it's a breed characteristic and nothing to worry about, unless she shows any other signs of things being amiss, like crop issues, parasites, loss of appetite etc.

 

[Jen olley]

I was wondering if that could be all thats needed, will corn be the way to go as she is not keen on oats

 

[Kiki]

No, corn is not good...think of it as human eating a lot of chips each day.
Please read this:
http://articles.extension.org/pages/69065/feeding-chickens-for-egg-production

 

[sumi]

Mealworms are a great source of protein and she will love you for it

 

[Jen olley]

Ok np did think corn eas bad i bread my own meal worms for my reptiles so thats no issue

 

[Kiki]

Make sure you offer grit on the side if you feed anything besides a commercial chicken feed too.