my silky is still so skinny!

[greenkjb]

Hello everybody. I've been reading up on chickens, but I have to say, everybody's advice is so helpful. Heres the scoop. About a month ago we purchased 7 young hens; they are approx 5 and 1/2 months now. They came with respiratory issues, you know runny noses and sneezing. I treated them with duramycin and got them a heat lamp. Shortly after there is roundworms! Gross. I dewormed them 2 weeks ago and was hoping to have them start to fatten up. I suppose they are growing, but they still feel so skinny! They all eat a lot and have plenty as well as clean fresh water. My darling silky is the skinniest, I mean she feels like a bag of bones. However, she eats the most and of course she is the sweetest of them all. Any suggestions? The meds say to worm them again in a month. Should I do it sooner? Are silkys normally bone thin? Does anyone have suggestions on how to fatten my birds up? They are currently on standard laying mash as well as lots of fresh fruits, veggies, and grains. We often feed them worms and other insects. I do find that they are annoyingly picky

For example, they will not touch zucchini. FYI, they also have not started laying let. Thanks for your help!

 

[MotherJean]

Personally, I don't feed worms since they are intermediate hosts for a number of parasites including intestinal worms and gapeworm. There are others on this forum far more expert than I on worming. If you're lucky, dawg53 will come along and advise you. If not, you may try sending a direct message. Good luck.

 

[LadyinRed]

What % of protein are you feeding?

 

[greenkjb]

Im not sure. I was told at the feed store that the laying mash was well balanced and provided for their nutritional needs. Do the vary greatly in protein content?

 

[artsyrobin]

besides feeding the normal feed, i'd add vitamins to their water, silkies are prone to vitamin deficiencies- polyvilsol liquid infant vitamins, without iron (yes human baby vitamins), also i would suppliment their food with boiled chopped eggs and possibly yogurt- can you post a pic of her?

 

[greenkjb]

I will post one tomorrow. Thank you so much!