Pullet weight for breed/age?

[topochico225]

Posted this in Chicken Behaviors and Egglaying, but thought I should post it here as well:

Good afternoon!

I have two Cinnamon Queen (Red Sex Link) and two Rhode Island Red pullets. They are all 8 months old. One of the RIRs was revealed to be underweight by a recent vet visit. She was ~4 lbs when she was weighed. What should the weights for each of the birds be? I know fully grown RIR hens should be ~6.5 lbs, but what about 8mo pullets?
Again, the pullets with their breeds:
Peebles: 8 month Cinnamon Queen, laying and molting, so she's a bit thinner than usual. We're giving her hard-boiled eggs daily to keep her weight up.
Florence: 8 month Cinnamon Queen, laying but has always been a bit thinner since hatch. She eats quite a bit, but is just thinner in general.
Dionne: 8 month RIR, laying. The fattest of all the hens so far, but she's also got a lot of feathers so it's hard to tell.
Mahalia: 8 month RIR, laying. Has a Candida overgrowth in her crop/mouth, so she's on oral Nystatin until Thursday night. She's having some respiratory issues, and she's isolated from the others to get her weight up.

Thanks!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Hoover Hatchery claims their Cinnamon Queen pullets at about 5.5#, grown. They claim their Golden Comet pullets as 5# grown. I have those (the Comets), they were added to the flock April 9, so they are almost exactly 8 mo old, and they are also right around that 5# target - so by inference, I'd expect your CQs, of similar genetic background, to be close to that 5.5# target at 8 mo.

I've no experience with RIR, and will defer to others on that breed

 

[EggSighted4Life]

We're giving her hard-boiled eggs daily to keep her weight up.

You're not going to up her weight you're gonna give her fatty liver syndrome and maybe some malnourishment issues.. Eggs are 34% protein and 64% fat.. but no carbohydrates which are an important source of energy.

Are they eating a formulated ration? Have you ran fecal floats to make sure they aren't suffering heavy internal parasite load? Ever check external parasite load?

Why were they seen by a vet in the first place?

4# is not underweight for a pullet IMO. Also regardless of WHAT a standard says.. many many birds will never meet the standard weights coming from hatcheries. And especially RSL.. are a hybrid and genetics can be ALL over the place...

Please post photos as well as your standard feed/treat routine.

Also, please share if your flock was vaccinated against Marek's (which can present in a multitude of ways including the slow wasting, slow crop, and other number of symptoms)

All standards of perfection have pullet/hen and cockerel/cock wights listed. If you scroll down on the following link from Cackle says RSL pullets should weigh about 6 pounds. Again I say HOGWASH and it all depends on the individual. I'm posting though so you can kinda see how they list weights and you should be able to find virtually any breed description in a similar fashion! I haven't yet figured out if weight standard are supposed to be the minimum, the maximum, or the average.. BUT I would NOT jump to conclusions that a smaller birds is underweight.. JUST under standard.. and fattening a bird that's acting and already eating fine is a very misinformed choice that will NOT benefit the bird from EVERYTHING I know. If you TRULY need increased nutrition then using a game bird starter ration or EVEN a chick starter ration will give you maximum benefit.. providing oyster shell on the side.. MY personal choice for standard feed is a Flock Raiser with oyster shell on the side.. my elder birds have less harsh molts with more nutrition on board ALL the time than when I used "layer" in the past.

https://www.cacklehatchery.com/product/red-sex-links/

Isolating a bird will NOT usually get their weight up.. Chickens are flock animals and creatures of habit.. so what you are doing is actually causing more stress and maybe even diminishing intake and overall spirit.. PLUS asking for major reintegration pecking order issues.. You might wanna start over.. I mean NO ugliness here and JUST trying to support YOU and your flock!

ETA: early growth targets depend on feed, lighting, temperature and everything being spot on.. Even one day being off has a compound effect.. like if they ever were treated for coccidiosis.. Lower protein feed give lower wight values.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

^^^ I'm going to piggy back the above, and question what you fed they the first 16 weeks of life before they started laying, too.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Most hatcheries post the weight of a breed direct from what the Standard of Perfection says adult birds are. It's a silly thing they do as their birds never reach that weight. They are not bred to.

Birds are all over the place with weight. With a good line of birds there is good conformity but still outliers. Simply put- you get runts. As long as the bird is healthy there is nothing wrong with it as a layer. You just don't breed them unless you're creating a bantam line.

 

[Alaskan]

Really, weights are not that helpful... each bird will be a bit different in size, height, etc.

What is best is feeling the bird to see how much meat is on either side of the keel bone.

You want to aim for #3 in the photo below.

Just pick up your chickens, one by one, and feel along the front keel bone (breast bone)

I find it is easiest to figure out what you are feeling when you compare one to the next.

 

[topochico225]

You're not going to up her weight you're gonna give her fatty liver syndrome and maybe some malnourishment issues.. Eggs are 34% protein and 64% fat.. but no carbohydrates which are an important source of energy.

Are they eating a formulated ration? Have you ran fecal floats to make sure they aren't suffering heavy internal parasite load? Ever check external parasite load?

Why were they seen by a vet in the first place?

4# is not underweight for a pullet IMO. Also regardless of WHAT a standard says.. many many birds will never meet the standard weights coming from hatcheries. And especially RSL.. are a hybrid and genetics can be ALL over the place...

Please post photos as well as your standard feed/treat routine.

Also, please share if your flock was vaccinated against Marek's (which can present in a multitude of ways including the slow wasting, slow crop, and other number of symptoms)

All standards of perfection have pullet/hen and cockerel/cock wights listed. If you scroll down on the following link from Cackle says RSL pullets should weigh about 6 pounds. Again I say HOGWASH and it all depends on the individual. I'm posting though so you can kinda see how they list weights and you should be able to find virtually any breed description in a similar fashion! I haven't yet figured out if weight standard are supposed to be the minimum, the maximum, or the average.. BUT I would NOT jump to conclusions that a smaller birds is underweight.. JUST under standard.. and fattening a bird that's acting and already eating fine is a very misinformed choice that will NOT benefit the bird from EVERYTHING I know. If you TRULY need increased nutrition then using a game bird starter ration or EVEN a chick starter ration will give you maximum benefit.. providing oyster shell on the side.. MY personal choice for standard feed is a Flock Raiser with oyster shell on the side.. my elder birds have less harsh molts with more nutrition on board ALL the time than when I used "layer" in the past.

https://www.cacklehatchery.com/product/red-sex-links/

Isolating a bird will NOT usually get their weight up.. Chickens are flock animals and creatures of habit.. so what you are doing is actually causing more stress and maybe even diminishing intake and overall spirit.. PLUS asking for major reintegration pecking order issues.. You might wanna start over.. I mean NO ugliness here and JUST trying to support YOU and your flock!

ETA: early growth targets depend on feed, lighting, temperature and everything being spot on.. Even one day being off has a compound effect.. like if they ever were treated for coccidiosis.. Lower protein feed give lower wight values.

She's on Nature's Best Layer Feed. The vet did fecal floats and smears and nothing came up. Mahalia, the RIR went to the vet because she was in respiratory distress with a yeast infection. All 4 girls get about the bottom 1.5-2 inches of a half gallon scoop of feed every day to share. They get a handful of mealworms about every day when they're free ranging. They have all been vaccinated against Mareks. I'm not home right now but I will post pictures tomorrow. The vet told us that she had low body mass/weight for her age, and when I pick her up she seems much lighter than the other girls.

 

[3KillerBs]

All 4 girls get about the bottom 1.5-2 inches of a half gallon scoop of feed every day to share.

Why do you restrict feed?

Feed restriction, while useful in keeping Cornish X meat birds from eating themselves to death, is not a management technique ordinarily used for layers. Almost all layers can be trusted to eat the correct amount for their needs when offered feed free-choice.

 

[topochico225]

Why do you restrict feed?

Feed restriction, while useful in keeping Cornish X meat birds from eating themselves to death, is not a management technique ordinarily used for layers. Almost all layers can be trusted to eat the correct amount for their needs when offered feed free-choice.

We have a lot of predators/pests and also mold in SE LA, so we try not to leave feed inside the coop when the girls aren't hungry. I caught a possum digging in to the coop two nights ago trying to get the bits of food left over.

 

[topochico225]

Why do you restrict feed?

Feed restriction, while useful in keeping Cornish X meat birds from eating themselves to death, is not a management technique ordinarily used for layers. Almost all layers can be trusted to eat the correct amount for their needs when offered feed free-choice.

They eat until they are satisfied in the morning, then the extra is removed. They get table scraps throughout the day as well.