Hi everyone,
I have a 1-year old wyandotte hen, she grew to a normal adult size just like all of her brothers and seemed perfectly healthy until this last winter. When it was really cold out I noticed she seemed to be "huddling" (puffed up with head in) more than the others. But other than that her behavior was perfectly normal so I didn't think much of it.
When spring came and the other hens started laying, she didn't, and her face & comb stayed pale. I still didn't think much of it. She wouldn't be the first unthrifty hen I've had, and her behavior was otherwise completely normal -- eating, drinking, active, scratching & pecking in the yard with all the others. Not "huddling" any more either since the weather had warmed up.
The other night I had to move her to a different coop. When I picked her up I was shocked -- all her poofy feathers made her look huge, but she weighed almost nothing -- she's just feathers, skin & bones! Literally! I mean, she is SHOCKINGLY thin. To be honest I'm surprised she's still alive. No wonder she acted colder than the others during the winter!
I thought maybe she had worms so I picked up my other chickens (one at a time all 80 of them!) to see if there were other skinny birds -- nope. Looked for signs of worms in their droppings too, didn't see a thing.
Any ideas? I'm stumped and I feel bad for this poor hen!
I have a 1-year old wyandotte hen, she grew to a normal adult size just like all of her brothers and seemed perfectly healthy until this last winter. When it was really cold out I noticed she seemed to be "huddling" (puffed up with head in) more than the others. But other than that her behavior was perfectly normal so I didn't think much of it.
When spring came and the other hens started laying, she didn't, and her face & comb stayed pale. I still didn't think much of it. She wouldn't be the first unthrifty hen I've had, and her behavior was otherwise completely normal -- eating, drinking, active, scratching & pecking in the yard with all the others. Not "huddling" any more either since the weather had warmed up.
The other night I had to move her to a different coop. When I picked her up I was shocked -- all her poofy feathers made her look huge, but she weighed almost nothing -- she's just feathers, skin & bones! Literally! I mean, she is SHOCKINGLY thin. To be honest I'm surprised she's still alive. No wonder she acted colder than the others during the winter!
I thought maybe she had worms so I picked up my other chickens (one at a time all 80 of them!) to see if there were other skinny birds -- nope. Looked for signs of worms in their droppings too, didn't see a thing.
Any ideas? I'm stumped and I feel bad for this poor hen!
