Hen still laying eggs while molting, trouble regaining lost weight

WingsysRoost

Crowing
Nov 8, 2022
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Hello all. I have a hen (Uni, roughly a year and a half old) who is currently laying an egg every other day or so (and sometimes daily) while also going through molt. She is currently regrowing all of her tail feathers at once after my puppy managed to get through the fence and get to her (an issue which has since been solved). Her recovery itself went very well, but I found that she was losing weight (not surprising since molting and laying both take a lot of energy). She is not showing any other signs of a problem (comb still bright red and not dry or anything, eyes bright and alert, still behaving like a chicken should be, crop is normal as far as I can tell - it feels like a beanbag to the touch which I heard was normal but I also have a few who like to really pack their crops before bed so it's hard for me to judge - she isn't showing any signs of sour crop though), but I don't want her to start having a problem because of this.

I've been supplementing extra protein when I go out to get her from the coop in the morning (mostly hardboiled egg) and she seems to have stopped losing weight but I can't tell if she is actually gaining or not. She's still growing feathers and laying so I think most of what I'm offering is going straight to that. I'm wondering if I should switch to giving her chick starter for at least the next few weeks minimum, for an added boost, with other options for calcium, or if this is a situation where I can't expect her to actually gain weight until her molt slows down and I should just try to get her maintaining for now.

This is the most recent picture I have of her, from earlier today:

20230610_163751-01.jpeg


Thoughts and advice appreciated! Thanks in advance!
 
Do you have a rooster?

She doesn't really look like she's molting to me, it looks like her feathers are worn and possibly being nipped.
Look her over for lice/mites.
If possible, get a fecal float to rule out worms as a cause of poor condition.

It would be a good idea to weigh her and track her weight at least weekly so you can you really tell if she's losing/gaining or what.
 
No rooster here.

I'm absolutely certain that she is molting. When I push aside her top feathers, she is regrowing a lot of new ones underneath.

Another check for parasites can't hurt, though I don't believe she has them based on previous checks. If you mean her tail looks worn and chewed on, that's all feathers that are in the process of regrowing. She lost literally all of her tail feathers to the puppy, and they haven't finished regrowing yet.

I can definitely attempt to get an actual weight for her. It might not be completely accurate since she doesn't like being handled, but I will try.

Thanks for your thoughts!
 

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