Feed for weight gain

[JacksonPearce]

I notice that the newest addition to my flock, a 7 month old Blue Birchen Marans, is awfully skinny. I didn't realize just HOW skinny until I was treating her for an upper respiratory infection today (I think that whole pen is going to get it before the winter is over, ugh); when I was looking for her breast to give her Tylan, I couldn't immediately identify it! She's fully feathered and looks "normal" sized, and in the brief time we've had her has been sick with coccidiosis once and now this URI. It's hard to know if her being skinny is due to her being ill, or if she's ill because she's so skinny/has an underlying issue. For what it's worth, she does seem to eat just as readily and often as the other chickens in her pen.

Long story short-- what can I give her to encourage weight gain? Right now they're all on a mix of organic crumbles and pellets. I'd prefer something that I can purchase rather than a recipe I need to fix daily, though any suggestions are appreciated. I do have grower food at the ready that I can offer, but I don't know much about giving that to adult hens.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

It would help if you posted the guaranteed analysis tag that the law requires on every sack and bag of chicken feed.

 

[JacksonPearce]

It would help if you posted the guaranteed analysis tag that the law requires on every sack and bag of chicken feed.

Unfortunately I don't have the bag anymore (I empty the feed into a bin to mix the pellets and crumbles together). I have only recently (as in, last month) switched over from New Country Organics, and I believe the two I went with for the mix are Nature's Best Organic Layer Pellets and Dumor Organic Crumbles...but I can't say for certain, so it's hard to know how helpful that is. None of my other chickens appear to have weight issues, though (though then again, they've been here longer and are older).

 

[sylviethecochin]

If she's eating and drinking normally, she should be gaining weight already--though you could switch to grower or something similar, I'd check for an underlying cause, such as illness or parasites. Does she act sick or like she's having diarrhea? Does she have any symptoms besides raspy breathing?
@Wyorp Rock
@Eggcessive
@casportpony?

 

[WhiteWyan]

There's a bunch of supplements that I've seen for sale and the one I chose was manna pro poultry conditioner. there's other brands of "pink pellets" like calf manna. Check it out... Might help?

 

[h2oratt]

My go to is hard boiled eggs and meal worms.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Possible worms? Mtes? Molting?
sylviethecochin got you some experienced BYCers to help.
h2oratt extra protein are my favorites (chickens too).
At 8wks I switch my chicks to Flock Raiser (20%) add an extra dish of Oyster Shells when their combs/wattles turn red and they have a separate dish of grit. A lot easier than switching feed & less wasted. Plus I ferment their feed from day one, alot less waste & alot of benefits.

 

[belindaschicks]

My flock recently went through a horrible molt and underwent some stress. So they lost a lot of weight. My go to it is canned tuna or canned salmon every other day . Make sure you get the low sodium tuna or salmon and rinse it. Eggs are also a good substitute. But I like all the omegas fat and protein in the fish. I would do this for a week then once a week for a little while till you notice she is back to normal.

 

[rjohns39]

Easiest would be to offer her grower. When I give fish I like to pair it with the egg as the fish is high protein and vitamin, the egg is low protein but has the perfect balance of amino acids for a chicken for maximum nutrition intake. Also, pink salmon doesn't need to be rinsed, they can have juice and all.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

7 month old Blue Birchen Marans, is awfully skinny...treating her for an upper respiratory infection today...when I was looking for her breast to give her Tylan...has been sick with coccidiosis once and now this URI...they're all on a mix of organic crumbles and pellets...I do have grower food at the ready that I can offer, but I don't know much about giving that to adult hens.

First of all you can give injectable Tylan50 ORALLY (by beak) - since she is really skinny, that may be a better way to go - this may also help to avoid injection site necrosis.https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...er-construction-check-back-for-updates.73335/
What is your dosage and administration of the Tylan50? What symptoms of URI are you seeing?

It's possible since she's ill/not feeling well, that she may not be eating well enough to gain weight or she may have something else going on. Weigh her so you can get a baseline weight so you can monitor her future loss/gain.

Do you have the bag for the grower food? If the grower feed is in date and has around 18-20% protein, then that is what I would try - see if that makes a difference. If the feed is old or seems stale, then offer meat, egg, tuna for extra protein along with the layer feed. Limit treats to no more than 5% of her daily intake. Add some poultry vitamins a couple of times a week as well. Since she is 7months, make oyster shell available free choice for added calcium (has she started laying yet?)

It's never a bad idea to have a fecal float to check for worms and Coccidiosis, just to make sure there is not something in the gut that is prohibiting nutrition absorption. Check to make sure her crop is emptying overnight too.

If you have photos or video of her you would like to share, we would love to see her.