New chicken owner needs help....

[Wyoyell]

Hi, I have an Olive Egger that is almost a year old....she’ll be a year old in May. And I have started to notice about the last two weeks that her keel bone was more prominent and she seems to have been losing weight. And I’ve been noticing the last couple days that there were more feathers on the ground and I know they don’t supposedly molt until in the fall, so I’m not sure what’s wrong. I have used diamataceous earth in their feed for a couple days to deworm them just in case that was it, But I really don’t know what’s going on. I have included a few pictures so if anyone can help I would really really really appreciate it. Thank you so much.

 

[Pyxis]

d I know they don’t supposedly molt until in the fall, so I’m not sure what’s wrong. I have used diamataceous earth in their feed for a couple days to deworm them just in case that was it, But I really don’t know what’s going on.

I just wanted to let you know that DE is useless as a dewormer. The way it works to kill bugs is it's so dry, it sucks all the moisture out of them. As soon as it gets wet, it no longer works. And as I'm sure you can imagine, it's not very dry in a chicken, lol. If you really want to deworm them, you'll want to pick up something like Safeguard or Valbazen.

 

[Wyoyell]

Where would I get those items..?

 

[NatJ]

Has the chicken been acting normal?

Broody hens often lose some breast feathers, and they lose weight, but they are usually pretty easy to recognize (spend most of their time sitting on a nest trying to hatch eggs.)

Try watching the chickens for a bit. Do you see the hen eating and drinking sometimes? Are the others chasing her away from the food or water?

You can take some of their normal chicken food and add water to make a mush. Chickens often like it that way, so it might encourage her to eat more. It's fine if the others eat it too, as long as they do not chase this hen away from the dish.

 

[Wyoyell]

Has the chicken been acting normal?

Broody hens often lose some breast feathers, and they lose weight, but they are usually pretty easy to recognize (spend most of their time sitting on a nest trying to hatch eggs.)

Try watching the chickens for a bit. Do you see the hen eating and drinking sometimes? Are the others chasing her away from the food or water?

You can take some of their normal chicken food and add water to make a mush. Chickens often like it that way, so it might encourage her to eat more. It's fine if the others eat it too, as long as they do not chase this hen away from the dish.

I will watch them tomorrow. I will make a plate of mush tomorrow morning. She’s definitely not broody so that’s not it. Thank you for your help.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

The feathers on her breast look broken off, maybe picked at. Not exactly sure what is causing it, but that doesn't look like normal molting.

You checked her really good for mites and lice?

 

[Wyoyell]

I will watch them tomorrow. I will make a plate of mush tomorrow morning. She’s definitely not broody so that’s not it. Thank you for your help.

I went ahead and made a little bowl of mush tonight, I took it out there and I got Olive off the roost and put her out in the in the run and we have a really bright light out there and I turned the light on and when she saw that bowl of mush she just went to town. I have a feeling the chunky monkey lavender Orpington’s might have something to do with this. Olive looked a little bit lost being out there by herself so I got Katie, our Easter Egger, out also and let her eat with Olive and they both just went to town. Now this is gonna sound like a really stupid question but they do know when to stop eating right. Let’s just say they should both sleep like babies tonight....lol. We only have five chickens so we have gotten pretty attached to them. Olive even likes it when she can snuggle up to your chest like a hug.

 

[NatJ]

Now this is gonna sound like a really stupid question but they do know when to stop eating right.

Yes, they know when to stop eating.

The thin one might need to eat extra food for a while, to gain weight again.

The ones at a healthy weight might seem to pig out on the mush, but then they will eat less of the dry food, so they will still be eating the right total amount each day.

I went ahead and made a little bowl of mush tonight, I took it out there and I got Olive off the roost and put her out in the in the run and we have a really bright light out there and I turned the light on and when she saw that bowl of mush she just went to town. I have a feeling the chunky monkey lavender Orpington’s might have something to do with this.

You might try adding more feeders & waterers to their pen. Or, if you already have multiple feeders, add something so the chickens can not always see who is eating when. That way the lower ranking birds can eat without being harassed.

Of course you can give them mush as often as you like, too.
I do not know why chickens like wet chicken food so much better than dry, but they sure do!

 

[Mamatomany123]

That just looks like a molt to me. I have a few girls going through it now and had 2 girls go through it at 8ish months.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

She might very well be molting, but I still see broken picked feathers.

More than one feeder is a good idea. I suspect there may be some bullying going on.