Chicken having less appetite

[My baby roosters]

Hello everyone, I have a hen, she is about 5 - 6 yrs old. Recently she is eating very less than usual. She shows no sign of illness. She seems active and shows interest whenever she sees food. She keeps jumping around me when I bring her food bowl. But despite that, she does not eat that much, she just eats very little (pecks the bowl for a few times) and keeps pecking and searching for something on the ground. Seems like her appetite has decreased. Usually she used to empty her food bowl, but now she remains a huge amount of her food.Why do you think she shows this behaviour? How can I increase her appetite?

 

[azygous]

Are you far enough north of the equator to experience seasonal changes, length of day, etc? Or are winter and summer days pretty the same length? And what time of year have you noticed your chickens molting and growing in new feathers? This is personally curious to me.

If this hen is otherwise healthy and acting normal, and decreased appetite is the only anomaly, it may be due to molt. It's not unusual during molt. In fact, I've had some hens starve themselves to the point I need to tube feed to bring them back from the brink.

The other possibility is the hen may have a developing tumor somewhere in her body that is throwing off her normal appetite.