Chickens underweight and skinny, a little worried.

[Riverbend Farms]

I have two hens, a 3 y/o and a 1 y/o who are both about 3 pounds (Most of the birds are 4-5 pounds) and I am worried because they are thin. They are both at the bottom of the pecking order, lay regularly, and get pushed away from the food. They both have good appetites and seem to want to eat. It has been hot (93 farenheit Yesterday and today, will go down to low eighties for a while) I am planning on fattening them up with fatty treats (sunflower seeds), and if that doesn’t work, I will dip them. Any thing else that may be wrong/ I should do?

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

I have two hens, a 3 y/o and a 1 y/o who are both about 3 pounds (Most of the birds are 4-5 pounds) and I am worried because they are thin. They are both at the bottom of the pecking order, lay regularly, and get pushed away from the food. They both have good appetites and seem to want to eat. It has been hot (93 farenheit Yesterday and today, will go down to low eighties for a while) I am planning on fattening them up with fatty treats (sunflower seeds), and if that doesn’t work, I will dip them. Any thing else that may be wrong/ I should do?

if you have an extra coop besides you main coop I would try and put them in their so they can eat in peace and mabye gain some confidence, just make sure they can see each other and have interactions. It’s also important that when they are getting more food that it’s not only treats and they mainly get their real food with high fat treats added to it. You could also give them mealworms as a treat they are very high in fat

 

[LaFleche]

that doesn’t work, I will dip them.

What exactly do you mean by this?

What breeds are these two hens?
Hybrids usually are lighter in weight than i.e. Brahma or Marans etc. as they are bred to convert their feed into eggs instead of fat or meat.

You could feed them separately several times a week to make sure they get the nutrition they need.
Deworming might also help to prevent nutritional deficiencies.

 

[Riverbend Farms]

if you have an extra coop besides you main coop I would try and put them in their so they can eat in peace and mabye gain some confidence, just make sure they can see each other and have interactions. It’s also important that when they are getting more food that it’s not only treats and they mainly get their real food with high fat treats added to it. You could also give them mealworms as a treat they are very high in fat

Okay, thank you!

What exactly do you mean by this?

What breeds are these two hens?
Hybrids usually are lighter in weight than i.e. Brahma or Marans etc. as they are bred to convert their feed into eggs instead of fat or meat.

You could feed them separately several times a week to make sure they get the nutrition they need.
Deworming might also help to prevent nutritional deficiencies.

One is barred rock (3 y/o) the 1 y/o is an Easter Egger who is I believe a hybrid.

 

[gtaus]

They are both at the bottom of the pecking order, lay regularly, and get pushed away from the food.

I have a 5 gallon PVC hanging bucket feeder with feed in it 24/7. The theory is that the chickens will only eat as much as they need as long as they believe there will always be food there when they want it. They will not overfeed if food is available 24/7. The chicken(s) on the low end of the pecking order don't have to worry about not getting any food because nobody is fighting for food.

I have 4 feeding spots on my hanging feeder for 10 chickens, and I rarely see more than 1 chicken eating at any time. They never fight. The 24/7 hanging feeder seems to work for me.

I will also add that my feeder is hanging in my coop, protected from the outside weather, and any outside animals like squirrels and chipmunks. Although I have seen some mice in the coop every once in a while, I have never seen them getting into the hanging feeder.

Contrast that to feeding the chickens a limited amount of feed maybe only once or twice a day, where the chickens believe that they need to eat as possible as fast as possible, where they fight each other for the limited food resources, and the lower pecking order chickens might not get much, if any, food in that scenario.

So, my commercial feed is available 24/7 in the hanging bucket feeder. We also give food scraps and leftovers to the chickens, usually in the morning, and that is truly a free for all and the lower ranking chickens might only get what they can steal and run away with before someone else takes it away from them. But those are considered treats, and I don't worry about which chickens are getting more than others.

Another big equalizer in my flock is that I converted my entire chicken run into a chicken run composting system. All day long, my chickens are out there digging and scratching for bugs and worms in the chicken run litter compost. They seem happiest when they are scratching and pecking for bugs and worms in the compost litter.

In the summertime, when the chickens are in the run and can scratch and peck for bugs and worms in the compost, my commercial feed bill goes down by about half. I think that is great because chickens eating fresh bugs and worms is a natural way for them to stay healthy and happy.

I don't have the option of letting my chickens free range. I live on a lake, and we have hawks and Bald Eagles overhead all the time. I would not have any chickens left by the end of the summer if I let my chickens free range. So, I bring the free range to them in terms of leaves, grass clippings, weeds from the garden, etc... and all that gets tossed into the chicken run for composting.