Poor hen losing A LOT of weight

[seminolewind]

All my heavy molters have lost weight, no appetite, no energy. They keep their distance from the flock. Their crops are near empty, and they won't ev en take a treat.

Yes worms can work against her too.

 

[roxyblue]

Thanks!
I'm going to get some valbazen to have on hand in case I need it. This is her first time molting, she is such a sweetheart! I hate seeing her go through this. Latly she has been either in the coop, or tucked in a corner some where, though she does chill with her sis sometimes. She is high on the pecking order among my girls and has lately been very mad whenever they do something that upsets her. Well at least she still has her same old attitude.

thanks again,
-Roxy

 

[seminolewind]

Roxy, they really do look pathetic, don't they? I give them treats when no one is around, LOL

 

[enola]

Coccidia can cause a lot of the sypmtoms you guys have mentioned. When my girls molt, they do seem to eat less but they don't lose a lot of weight.

Coccidia wll not be helped by worming them. Sulmet in their drinking water will treat coccidia.

Good luck, I hate it when a chicken gets sick.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Does she seem to be eating/drinking normally? Poop normal?

Weight loss can be a sign of so many things. The crop is on HER right side (your left if you're facing her) and it feels like a beany baby. It should be full by nighttime and empty (hardly noticeable) in the morning.

 

[lyndsey74]

I have this problem with my Rhode Island Red. She has been fine running round wrecking the garden with the others then yesterday she just looked well down the the dumps. This morning she didn't want to get out of the coop. She is moulting, her feathers on her neck are gone. Other than that she just looks a bit scruffy I went to pick her up this morning and there is hardly anything left on her!

We have fed her scrambled egg and brought her in the house to warm up as it's quite cold outside.

I don't know what else to do. I am at work my hubby is at home looking after her.

Any ideas?

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
No need to bring her in just for molting. They get grumpy when they molt and don't like to be touched/messed with. (by us or other chickens)

 

[GoChick]

I feed mine some canned tuna - i don't feed cat food as I can't find one without "chicken by-products" on the ingredients list. I also give them a lot of greens - spinach, collards, weeds I pull from the vegetable beds.

They get grumpy and don't want to be touched, but once the molt is over, they go back to their old grump self.

 

[roxyblue]

Thanks Everyone,
I took 1/2 cup of yogurt into the coop this morning and she ate it all. I also put some chick starter in a dish which she explored also. She seems to have an appetite,I think this molt has just caused her a lot of stress. Earlier on she lost all her feathers at once and didn't have enough protein from her layer pellets to grow her feathers in completly. She started walking sideways and in circles. Now that is done but she is "underweight" I think it might be a side result of being so "loony" that she didn't no where the feed bowl was. I hand fed her as much as I could, and she still ate, it's just when I wasn't around. She got to enjoy the good life inside the house for a week till she got better. Wow this molt has really taken a toal on my poor girl!
thnaks again,
-roxy
P.S. she DID look VERY pathetic when she first lost all of her feathers!

 

[roxyblue]

Hello,
Just a little update:
Roxy ( the chicken) seems to be doing much better. This morning a busted open a pumpkin w/ seeds as a natural "wormer" ( not sure if this actually works).She ate oatmeal, scratch, lots of yogurt and her layer pellets. She does seem to have put a little more weight on her. And...last night she went to bed with a full crop! Her poop lookes fine. And her attitude is a little bit better that it has been.
thanks again everyone!
-Roxyblue