Yeah, ok, I know - because they're not eating enough!!
This is my first foray into chickens. I have 11 gold sex links, ten months old. One of the girls has been spending more time than usual on the roost this weekend. She's pretty friendly, and I was fussing with her today, and noticed that she feels awfully thin to me. She had food in her crop. She looks and acts fine. I gave her some food on the roost (it's a 2 x 4 with the edges rounded, so it's nice and flat to put things on), and she ate happily, but not like she was starving. I checked some of the other hens, that I could catch) and most seem fine but a few felt a bit thin to me. Now - the question:
WHY? If it was worms, wouldn't all of them be at least a little bit thin? Wouldn't they show other symptoms if the infestation was bad enough to make them thin?
It's been a very long and cold winter - could they just have burned all their energy to stay warm, and will plump back up now that the weather has started to warm up a bit? I don't know why, but four or five have had totally bare vent areas most of the winter - I'm talking huge areas of bare skin - four inches across and five or six inches from the vent down. It's not just the bare-bottomed ones who are thin.
I started to have a problem with cannibalism earlier in the winter, I upped the protein with oatmeal, yogurt, scrambled eggs, sunflower seeds, etc. A local grocery gives me out-of-date greens(it's a co op, and the stuff is organic so no pesticides, etc.). Could their diet be out of balance? I have cut back on the extra protein now the weather is better, and they are eating more layer ration now. should I just wait and see if the skinnies gain weight back?
Another possibility is that I have two accidental roos, who have started breeding more lately. I know it's too many roos for 11 hens, and am working on finding a home for at least one. some of the girls have bare areas on their backs because of the boys. Could that be causing the hen to lose weight? Is she spending too much time on the roost to keep away from the roos? She does come down, and the roos haven't been after her when I've been around, so I'm not sure that's it.
They don't free range, too many predators.
I'm out of ideas - should I worry, or just keep an eye on things?
This is my first foray into chickens. I have 11 gold sex links, ten months old. One of the girls has been spending more time than usual on the roost this weekend. She's pretty friendly, and I was fussing with her today, and noticed that she feels awfully thin to me. She had food in her crop. She looks and acts fine. I gave her some food on the roost (it's a 2 x 4 with the edges rounded, so it's nice and flat to put things on), and she ate happily, but not like she was starving. I checked some of the other hens, that I could catch) and most seem fine but a few felt a bit thin to me. Now - the question:
WHY? If it was worms, wouldn't all of them be at least a little bit thin? Wouldn't they show other symptoms if the infestation was bad enough to make them thin?
It's been a very long and cold winter - could they just have burned all their energy to stay warm, and will plump back up now that the weather has started to warm up a bit? I don't know why, but four or five have had totally bare vent areas most of the winter - I'm talking huge areas of bare skin - four inches across and five or six inches from the vent down. It's not just the bare-bottomed ones who are thin.
I started to have a problem with cannibalism earlier in the winter, I upped the protein with oatmeal, yogurt, scrambled eggs, sunflower seeds, etc. A local grocery gives me out-of-date greens(it's a co op, and the stuff is organic so no pesticides, etc.). Could their diet be out of balance? I have cut back on the extra protein now the weather is better, and they are eating more layer ration now. should I just wait and see if the skinnies gain weight back?
Another possibility is that I have two accidental roos, who have started breeding more lately. I know it's too many roos for 11 hens, and am working on finding a home for at least one. some of the girls have bare areas on their backs because of the boys. Could that be causing the hen to lose weight? Is she spending too much time on the roost to keep away from the roos? She does come down, and the roos haven't been after her when I've been around, so I'm not sure that's it.
They don't free range, too many predators.
I'm out of ideas - should I worry, or just keep an eye on things?