Possible causes of thin hen?

[EmmaDonovan]

One of our black Australorps is skinny. The flock just went through a hard molt and foul pox at the same time. The pox is waning and everyone is doing fine. She is the only one who is thin. She is 1 yr 8 months old, moves fine, eyes bright and alert, eats, drinks, crop is empty in the morning, poop is normal, I didn't see any worms, no lice/mites. Her comb and waddles are rather pale but they've always been like that and they're the same as our other black Australorp (her sister, who isn't thin). She does get bullied a bit and has feathers missing from her back and wings so we usually keep a hen saddle on her. We get about one egg a day from them but I'm not always sure which one lays it so I don't know how often she is laying.

She does not like to be handled or picked up, neither of our Australorps do, they never have, but we try to very gently handle everyone in our flock at least briefly every day so they don't become entirely skittish. When you hold her she feels very boney.

 

[FunnyBunny89]

Could be a number of things, I think. Perhaps she isn't being allowed to eat as much by the others? Do you have multiple feeders?

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Yes, multiple feeders and waterers spaced out around the run.

The run is devoid of any plants (we're in the desert so it's just desert dirt) so about every other day (lately it's been every day), for a few hours we move them into another pen that has patches of crabgrass and she eats that, too. In that pen there's also feed pellets and water and we sprinkle around some grubs. She eats those.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

I just went out to check for eggs and tossed them some grubs and she went for them and ate them just like everyone else.

I will say this, she is not the smartest chicken. If I had to guess I'd say she's probably the least-smart hen we have. Sometimes when the rest of the flock reacts to something she just stands and stares for a moment, like she has kind of a slow reaction time.

I don't know if that has any impact on her weight, though. She had been a normal weight up until about a week ago.

At first when she seemed a little underweight we thought it was just a combination of the hard molt and the pox at the same time. They have 18% protein pellets and we've been feeding them extra protein for weeks and no one else has lost weight like that. She seems to still be losing weight, too, which makes me worried.

 

[FunnyBunny89]

I just went out to check for eggs and tossed them some grubs and she went for them and ate them just like everyone else.

I will say this, she is not the smartest chicken. If I had to guess I'd say she's probably the least-smart hen we have. Sometimes when the rest of the flock reacts to something she just stands and stares for a moment, like she has kind of a slow reaction time.

I don't know if that has any impact on her weight, though. She had been a normal weight up until about a week ago.

At first when she seemed a little underweight we thought it was just a combination of the hard molt and the pox at the same time. They have 18% protein pellets and we've been feeding them extra protein for weeks and no one else has lost weight like that. She seems to still be losing weight, too, which makes me worried.

Hmm. Well, I ran into tapeworm being a hidden problem until I noticed it in a fresh poop. You only see them in fresh poop, so if you can, maybe follow her around. For me, the worms consistently appeared in the hour before roosting time. I definitely had hens lose weight from that parasite. They can pick it up from any number of bugs, especially flies.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Hm. Flies have been out in force because it's been so warm. I think I'll try putting her in a pen by herself for just a little while. I'll offer her some tuna and see if I can see anything in her droppings.

 

[FunnyBunny89]

Hm. Flies have been out in force because it's been so warm. I think I'll try putting her in a pen by herself for just a little while. I'll offer her some tuna and see if I can see anything in her droppings.

Just fyi tapeworms don't show in every dropping, so it could take a whole day or two of trying to catch it fresh. Good luck!

 

[Debbie292d]

The usual suspects of skinny chickens are not eating enough, mites, or worms.

The latter two, one would think the others would be exhibiting problems as well.

I've never wormed our silkies in the near decade of having them, but in this instance, I would just to eliminate it. Tapeworms are the rarest ones, so I wouldn't jump to that. The other types like ringworm, you'll never see.

Should you choose to try this idea, here's info I picked up along the way and saved: Neither rid them of tapeworms and Safeguard shouldn't be used on molting chickens.

Safeguard 10% Liquid Goat Dewormer or 10% Equine Paste dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.
OR
Valbazen dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

Here's how to give oral medications if you've never had to:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

If you want to treat for tapeworms,
Praziquantel works for those.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/treating-tapeworms-under-construction.1220309/

 

[FunnyBunny89]

The usual suspects of skinny chickens are not eating enough, mites, or worms.

The latter two, one would think the others would be exhibiting problems as well.

I've never wormed our silkies in the near decade of having them, but in this instance, I would just to eliminate it. Tapeworms are the rarest ones, so I wouldn't jump to that. The other types like ringworm, you'll never see.

Should you choose to try this idea, here's info I picked up along the way and saved: Neither rid them of tapeworms and Safeguard shouldn't be used on molting chickens.

Safeguard 10% Liquid Goat Dewormer or 10% Equine Paste dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.
OR
Valbazen dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

Here's how to give oral medications if you've never had to:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

If you want to treat for tapeworms,
Praziquantel works for those.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/treating-tapeworms-under-construction.1220309/

Well, please be mindful of people's experiences and differing environments. Tapeworm has afflicted my flock for a year now, and it's the only parasite I dealt with for a long time until lice came along. I am unable to eradicate it, I have tried. But it's worth people trying to find out whether it's considered "rare" or not because it can make hens skinny.