Chicken losing weight

[Fluffbutts84]

Hi There! I am looking for an insight on why my Easter Egger chicken is losing weight. She is about a year old and suddenly I noticed she was losing some weight as well as stopped laying. When I pick her up it reminds me of a "dried out rotisserie chicken". I thought maybe because she was molting because I noticed that she was getting all soft feathers as well as losing feather and new growth coming in. This is my first time having chickens, so I am not that knowledgeable, but I have done a lot of research. I also thought that maybe she has an impacted crop, but I felt her crop last night and there was nothing there. I felt her crop again this morning, same as last night. I did notice a hard lump the size of a golf ball the right side of her neck if she is facing away from me. So I just am looking for someone to hopefully give me some promising information that this is something that treatable if it's something other than molting. She has always been a loner....the other chickens don't tend to let her around....I worry also that she is getting picked on. Any advice would be great!

 

[Melky]

Might be time for a vet check truthfully.

 

[coach723]

Can you take a sample of fresh droppings to your vet for a fecal test? Some will do it without seeing the bird, some will not. Internal parasites could be a cause, the test will let you know if it's an issue. What do her droppings look like? If she's very low on the pecking order she may be kept from the feeders. Adding a feeder or two spread around can help in all birds getting adequate access to feed and water. I would crate her long enough to get a look at her droppings and see how she's eating and drinking without competition from any others. It sounds like she's molting, which can sometimes be hard on them, handle gently, those new feathers coming in can be sensitive. If she's eating well, and crop is empty every morning, you might raise the protein content in the feed (a grower or flock raiser feed in the 18-20% protein range) and that can help them through molt. If you have some nutri drench, give her some of that, it helps give them a bit of a boost and can help with appetite. Also give her a good look for any hidden injuries, lice/mites, lumps/bumps or anything else that stands out.