Chicken doesn’t have a lot of food in crop at night

[Emrosenagel]

Hello!

I have a pair of 7mo Blue Andalusians and a broody Cochin who I’m not concerned about. Now, Rachel - one of my blues - I’ve noticed doesn’t have a very full crop at night. I noticed this weeks ago, but didn’t think too much of it. It isn’t empty, and I do see her eat (if not as voraciously as her sister Marilla). She loves treats and grass and lizards if she can catch one. It just is a little confusing that she has such a small crop at night compared to Marilla, whose crop is full to the brim. So far I haven’t noticed a drastic change in behavior — today they had free range all day and were non stop foraging and dust bathing. A couple days ago she had a moment when she acted a bit…slow? And had a bit of green diarrhea. But I had just given them way too much Greek yogurt and she ate most of it, and it wasn’t till after that she had the runs. Yesterday and today her poops seems normal but alway kind of small. So I’m not sure what exactly to do here since she seems fine besides the light crop at night. And for anyone wondering, she is not on the bottom of the pecking order. In fact, she regularly used to peck at my broody cochin when they ate.

I guess my question is do some chickens just not eat as much? She doesn’t seem underweight. Should I deworm the flock in case that might be the issue?

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

You can deworm her, but I also would take her aside and offer her some watery chicken food and scrambled egg. Being low in the pecking order may be her problem. Make sure to have multiple feeders and waterers available in different spots.