Help her fain weight?

[Studio2770]

Our chicken is recovering from a dog attack and is healing well. She is growing back her feathers but she's still scrawny. I assume she has lost weight. How can I fatten her up a bit? She's a white leghorn.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

hello, if you are sure she has no worms? that will cause them to not gain weight ,then you can feed some cat food. mine love it as a treat and it has a lot of protein too.

 

[Studio2770]

She's been in a kennel most of the time which could be why she's small. I don't want to think about worms haha. She was the smallest chicken before her attack. She's also laying fine.

 

[Kelsie2290]

If you are feeding her Layer, you could try giving her something like game bird or chick starter etc with a higher level of protein, it is hard work growing feathers, just offer her oyster shell on the side for calcium. People also like feeding things like sunflower seeds, meal worms and the cat food like granny hatchet said, good idea to worm her if you haven't, and double check for mites/lice.

 

[Studio2770]

We do have her on layer feed. I hope to feed her some egg but I do give her sunflower seeds. Egg shell good for her? We got her along with the other leghorns from Tractor Supply. Do they worm their chicks?

 

[Kelsie2290]

Egg shell is a good source of calcium for laying hens. But if she is not laying right now, she really doesn't need extra calcium. Chicks generally aren't wormed, many people routinely worm their older birds as a preventative measure (or if you have a vet who will do a fecal, check that way). Good BYC thread on worms and wormers, https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/843583/the-best-chicken-wormer-and-how-often

 

[Studio2770]

Egg shell is a good source of calcium for laying hens. But if she is not laying right now, she really doesn't need extra calcium. Chicks generally aren't wormed, many people routinely worm their older birds as a preventative measure (or if you have a vet who will do a fecal, check that way). Good BYC thread on worms and wormers, https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/843583/the-best-chicken-wormer-and-how-often

She's laying almost everyday. Her lack of tail feathers(she only had 2 tail feathers left after the attack) and neck feathers makes her look smaller. Can it also be the fact that she seemed to have lost weight by spending 2-3 days only in the kennel?

 

[Kelsie2290]

OK, egg shells or oyster shell are a good idea. That is one tough bird to not miss a beat, gotta love the Leghorns. Don't think I saw how long it has been since the attack? They can lose weight / condition pretty quick if they are upset and not eating/ drinking like normal, and being attacked and in a crate would upset her I would think. Leghorns are also smallish streamlined birds and not very bulky, so a small Leghorn with a bunch of feathers missing is going to be kind of scrawny looking even at the best of times. I would up the protein level of the food she is getting if you can?

 

[Studio2770]

She got "handled" by our neighbor's dog 2 weeks ago. She laid an egg the next day on the way home from the vet! I think she did take some days off after that though. She's been more active for at least a week now and whines to come out; we pretty much let her roam with the rest until dusk when we gotta make sure she gets in the kennel instead of the coop. I'll give her some egg, eggshells, and toss more sunflower seeds her way.