Chickens looking a bit skinny

[lorelei14]

Hey there, this is my first winter with my two Rhode Island Red cross breed hens, who are now about 10 months old. I live in London where the temperture has been dropping to around -3, -4 degress Centigrade recently, with a little bit of snow. The two hens reside in a coop with an elevated house with wooden perches, with plenty of bedding in the nesting boxes. They are still laying two eggs a day, but seem to be losing a bit of weight. How much should they be weighing at this age, & is it normal for them to lose a little over winter? I am feeding them this -http://www.wildbirddirect.com/index...tra_20kg&sid=0kv73yzdx45o933q9914453qyh240o5a , as much as they will eat per day plus any scraps from the kitchen. They otherwise seem normal & happy, but as these are my first hens I am a little worried!

Any help or advise would be much appreciated.

 

[LynneP]

Your hens need chicken layer ration and would benefit from having wild bird suet in the coop to boost their caloric intake. They burn far more calories in winter, sometimes up to 3X as much.
Also, check for worms and treat if needed...

Just noticed you meant London England (I thought you meant London, Ontario!) and that the feed label includes layer ration- sorry.
Corn should help with the calorie increase in winter...do a double-check for the worms!

 

[al6517]

Quote:
You could try that but it has been my experience that RIR are just so skinney anyway, the rubber chicken comics use as a prop is a RIR. They are just bred to be egg layers and thats it, I know they will always remain on the thin side.

AL