Chicken Losing Wieght - Feather - deflated crop

[dirge]

Hi first post here and i realize that it's similar to this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=123761
but there are a few distinctions that i want to start a new thread.

We have a Welsummer that's been with us for a little over three weeks.
We have her and a Wynananadote quarantined from the established flock for the obvious.

The wynanadote is doing fine and looking beautiful - the Welsummer is getting uglier by the day.
She is definitely losing weight and her feathers are going flat and falling out.
I watch them constantly (because they're gorgeous and that's what they're for!) and i can see that these 2 birds seem to get along fine and they are both eating.
I'm feeding them layer pellets in an open, always available trough as well as some scratch sprinkled around the floor in the mornings.
The foor disappears at a good and seemingly normal rate so i know they're eating - i just can't figure out why the bird is losing weight and looking so not-hot.
She is acting normal and her behaviour seems great for a chicken

The aforementioned thread mentioned mites due to that chickens legs being scaly - not our girl, they look like good chicken legs.
I have no idea what to do.
This bird is so lively and friendly that i'm really confused. She doesn't seem sick but i know she's loosing weight and her appearance is going down.

any help?

The one on the left:

flickr photoset that i snaped this morning to get help http://www.flickr.com/photos/pc-pdx/sets/72157623216427450/

 

[crystalchik]

You might want to check for mites in the feathers and not so much on the legs. Lift up the feathers and see if anything scurries. Mites can cause very poor feather quality and can eventually in large numbers can cause serious weight loss and even death. You want to use 7-Dust if you see them, and keep everyone treated. This would also explain why she is acting okay, because she is not sick, but if she gets over infested, she will become lethargic.

 

[dirge]

With much fuss this morning, i was finally able to catch her - i should have done it last night whilst they were sleeping..
She definitely looks worse today. I scoured through her neck and back and couldn't find anything crawling.
She had quite a few square flakes of white ash on her back -> dandruff i would assume.

The poops seem mostly normal. There's a tinge of red in one that, according to the poop chart, is natural once a week.
There was a slimy brown in there this morning, chicken diarrhea looks like. I can't be sure who did this one and i've seems them before in the other birds so i don't know if that means bad.

at this point, she looks like she's molting. She has the feather stubbs with no fluff and this is not the time of year for her to be doing that.
Could it be that her clock is way off and that she's possibly just molting? I believe she's 8 months and that's not time for the molt in the normal world..


I have separated the good hen in this bunch and let her runn around the yard - i'm afraid to keep the good and the afflicted one together anymore
Any advise from the knowledgeable chicken fourumites?

 

[Matt A NC]

Does look like she is going into a really heavy molt.

Stress can trigger a molt. That may be her only problem. I would give her a place to take a dust bath. Add some sevin dust or DE to the area for her.

Try boosting her protein intake as well. Mealworms are a favorite here. Black Oil Sunflower seeds are great for new feathers.

Matt

 

[dirge]

wow - that's what i want to hear, i hope that's the truth and there's nothing more to this than that she's just going into a molt.
That'll make kind of a crappy winter for the gal but at least she'll see springtime!

I'll get on those suggestions - thanks for the post.
Anybody else have anything to add?