Hen with rapid weight loss

Magpie2

Songster
Dec 7, 2021
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We have a young lady who is acting normal but losing weight at an alarming rate. She seems to have really started losing weight once winter hit, we live in Canada and she is not a cold hardy breed, I’ve noticed that she has less down than most of our other birds.

She a mottled Houdan, average weight for females is around 3000g
We almost lost her to an ovary infection this summer so she might be stunted but she’s never weighed much more than 1000g. (She hatched in spring)
Recently I weighed her at 970g because she was feeling a little light and again a week later she was 830g. Losing more than 10% of her weight is pretty alarming but she doesn’t seem lethargic and she’s eating and drinking (maybe too quickly sometimes) and still pooping.
We have her inside for now with a few of her friends so she doesn’t have as much competition for food and roosters bothering her. We’re trying to increase protein to help up her weight and grow back some feathers she lost.

If she doesn’t start putting on weight, I plan on taking her to a vet. I’d like to hear people’s thoughts on what might be going on and how we can get her to gain weight.
She can be picky about new foods so I’m hoping to find some things she won’t turn down.
 
Worms. Molt. Cancer. Bullying. Those are some causes of weight loss.

How old is she? Old enough for molt? Have you looked her over for signs of molt? How about external parasites? Has she been wormed in the last six months?

How about her crop? Have you checked for a crop disorder?
 
Worms. Molt. Cancer. Bullying. Those are some causes of weight loss.

How old is she? Old enough for molt? Have you looked her over for signs of molt? How about external parasites? Has she been wormed in the last six months?

How about her crop? Have you checked for a crop disorder?
She hatched March 1st. I’m still new to chickens so I’m not sure if she’s old enough to moult. The feather loss could also be from roosters but it’s not too bad, just a small bald spot at the base of her tail. She’s not been bullied, an occasional peck from and at her but only around food really. We handle her often so I don’t think she has external parasites but I’m not sure how to check. It’s been pretty cold for external parasites too but I’ll try my best to check. She has never been wormed, she’s only about 9 months old.

Her crop feels a little small and hard but I haven’t been able to check it before she’s eaten. I’ve been massaging it when I can though and it is malleable, just a little hard.

She’s a big crested breed so she can be a little clueless due to her vision being obscured but we trim her crest to help. She might not get as much food as some due to this though. There are multiple spots to eat but she might be trying to get food from the spot that the bigger birds eat rather than a less busy one.
But she is inside right now with only a handful of birds who she likes to hang out with so that’s not an issue for now.
 
The feather loss could also be from roosters but it’s not too bad, just a small bald spot at the base of her tail.
She also has an apron on now covering the spot.
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Just weighed her again and there might be something wrong with my scale but it hasn’t gone below 0.83 kg so she hasn’t lost weight in a day now.
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I think you've ruled out molt. She's still too young. Check for crawlies around her vent. That's a moist area they like to hang out if she has any.

Her crop sounds normal. But you probably have hit on the reason for her weight loss. She likely isn't getting enough to eat. It could be she can't see, but you need to observe her with the others to see if they could be bullying her away from the feeder.

While you have her, it would benefit her to feed her for a couple days and beef up her reserves and her energy level. I like canned mackerel for putting weight on a chicken quickly.

Let her share it with the chickens you have her with, and observe how she behaves. Watch to see if she's shy about asserting herself to get her share. She may not being bullied but is too timid to push her way to get the food she needs.
 
I think you've ruled out molt. She's still too young. Check for crawlies around her vent. That's a moist area they like to hang out if she has any.

Her crop sounds normal. But you probably have hit on the reason for her weight loss. She likely isn't getting enough to eat. It could be she can't see, but you need to observe her with the others to see if they could be bullying her away from the feeder.

While you have her, it would benefit her to feed her for a couple days and beef up her reserves and her energy level. I like canned mackerel for putting weight on a chicken quickly.

Let her share it with the chickens you have her with, and observe how she behaves. Watch to see if she's shy about asserting herself to get her share. She may not being bullied but is too timid to push her way to get the food she needs.
She’s definitely not shy with her little gang she hangs out with, they’re a group of rescues with big hearts and she’s probably one of the bossiest when she’s with just them.
The birds in the coop on the other hand have been overwhelming for her in the past (when she was recovering from her infection) and she even learned how to play dead so we’d come and get her, she has less alarming tactics now (thank goodness). Some of the coop kids haven’t been laying for very long so they’re still in that ravenous stage, the cold weather seems to have made everyone extra hungry too so I’ll have to see how she does with them once she puts some weight back on.

I’ll try to find some canned mackerel, hopefully she takes to it. One of her favourite things is watermelon, hopefully I can get her in a treat mood if I have some of that too.

Would an external parasite be pretty obvious around the vent? I don’t really know what to look for.

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Some of her friends asking to move back inside where they were quarantined. The very naked buff Orpington is probably the nicest member of the flock, she gives everyone preens.

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A major look of concern aimed at a rooster and a pushy hen stealing her butternut squash. She doesn’t always want to eat once another bird shows up and that could be part of the issue as well now.
Pictures are from before she started loosing weight
 
Yes, lice and coop mites would be obvious, as fleas are on cats and dogs.
I gave her a good look and other than some dried urates she was clean. So no external parasites as far as I can tell.

I weighed her on a different scale and she’s over 900g again but her keel is very prominent so she’s staying inside still.

I also noticed that her beak was looking long so I gave it a quick trim and she seemed to eat a little easier.

I couldn’t find mackerel unfortunately but I tried tuna and she was not at all interested. I even put some on the watermelon and she ate around it.
I’ll keep trying but any other food ideas would be greatly appreciated.

She likes her pellets, watermelon, squash, bugs, and sometimes chopped veggies (they have to look right for her to want them). I can’t take her to an anthill unfortunately in this weather but she might go for some dried mealworms or something similar.
She often likes colourful things, oranges and reds, would a sweet potato maybe be good? I know what they can eat but not what will fatten them up.
 

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