Old Hen Off Balance

[Mahlzeit]

I have a 10 or 11 year old blue laced red wyandotte who has recently become off balanced. She has a hard time staying upright and tends to fall to the side or sometimes front and back. She still comes out of the coop everyday and gets back in as well. I also noticed she has become really skinny but she still eats and drinks. Could this all be caused from worms?

 

[Eggcessive]

My goodness, she is a senior citizen! She could be losing weight because of her age. Worming her would be simple though since most chickens have a worm or two if they are on grass and soil. Valbazen is very good for most poultry worms, 1/2 tsp given orally, and repeated in 10 days. SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer is good as well--give 1/4 ml per pound of weight once and repeat in 10 days for common worms. For more difficult worms I would give it 5 days in a row. What feed does she eat? Chopped egg, and a little bit of plain yogurt are food in addition to a balanced layer or all flock feed. Sometimes seeing could be a problem, so make sure that she knows where her food and water is.

 

[Mahlzeit]

My goodness, she is a senior citizen! She could be losing weight because of her age. Worming her would be simple though since most chickens have a worm or two if they are on grass and soil. Valbazen is very good for most poultry worms, 1/2 tsp given orally, and repeated in 10 days. SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer is good as well--give 1/4 ml per pound of weight once and repeat in 10 days for common worms. For more difficult worms I would give it 5 days in a row. What feed does she eat? Chopped egg, and a little bit of plain yogurt are food in addition to a balanced layer or all flock feed. Sometimes seeing could be a problem, so make sure that she knows where her food and water is.

Yes, she is getting up there. She has been an awesome egg hatcher and mom for me for the last 8 years. She's one of the very few who isn't in my 2 year bird rotation. I'll see if I can get some valbazen. She still has sharp eyesight and comes out of the coop and eats and drinks. I have layer ration free choice because she is with other hens who lay and all my birds get greens and food scraps daily.