Pullet weight for breed/age?

[3KillerBs]

Taking feed out at night is fine, but they should have unrestricted access to feed while they are awake.

Chickens are not like dogs, who evolved to gorge on a big kill then go without food for a long period. In their natural habitat chickens eat little bits of food with only short breaks to process it in their gizzards.

Scraps are a supplement, not a primary source of nutrition.

 

[Amer]

Okay, less than 4 pounds is perfectly normal for a hatchery pullet. The Standard of Perfection outlines a size goal that hatcheries do not breed to, so of course they are going to be overall smaller birds.
But also, don’t restrict feed. They should be free fed. With that, they should get their weight up. Birds should eat throughout the day, they have much faster metabolisms than mammals.

 

[Mrs. K]

If the bird is active, bright eyed and laying I would not worry.

What I would do is provide 2-3 hidden feed bowls, it might be that with the limited feed, a more aggressive hen is keeping her away from enough feed. Set it up, so that while a bird is at one bowl, they cannot see who is eating at another bowl. Use boxes, or mini walls, or some other clutter.

As for the amount of feed, this is what I do, I put out feed in the morning, and then check it at dark. What you want is for the bowl to be almost empty at night. If there is a lot left over, feed less the next day. If it is empty, feed a little more the next day.

I agree, feed a good balanced commercial feed, which is sounds like you are doing.

Mrs K

 

[hysop]

In the winter chickens need more protein to help with feather growth as they molt. What kind of feed are you giving them? What’s the protein %?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

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.

Okay, sounds like you try really hard to take good care of them. Thank you for the answers!

I had meant to post the breast chart that someone added in post #6. It's another one of those useful tools that can be added in for comparison.

With your explanation of why you "limit" feed.. that's perfectly acceptable and reasonable and lot's of folks MUST do things to restrict freeloaders (birds squirrel, rats, etc). Maybe @Shadrach can share?? (TIA) Collecting feed and securing nightly is just a wise choice. Free range chickens.. have access to other forages and feed stuffs.. free choice all day depending on your pasture conditions. While I understand and agree with what other have stated regarding chickens being grazers.. sometimes we need to do what works for us instead of what is "ideal".

A handful of meal worms per day for 4 birds is entirely TOO much as they also are high in fat.. You might consider adding more things into your repertoire like (defrosted in winter) frozen peas, scrambled tofu, or other lower fat higher protein.. ENRICHMENT ideas.

mealworms

Opossum will also steal eggs, and chicks when given the chance. And if a possum can get in.. then so can rats and raccoons, both of which enjoy a good chicken dinner.. Anything in the weasel family like mink can wreak havoc on the entire crew.. Half inch hardware cloth.. skirt/apron (two different things) and also covering any opening larger than a quarter can be immensely helpful in keeping unwanted visitors at bay. A well placed E wire can also be VERY effective. My household dogs are my best defense against daytime freeloaders.. but their dedication is more focused on me and therefor limited efficacy. My point being that sometimes it's multi tiered layers of security. Some folks use treadle feeders. My feeding and collection time gives me the chance to look around and see if anything is a miss. Chickens are very routine oriented. So being familiar with how things should be makes it EASY to spot developing issues. If your birds have already adapted to your am/pm midday forage schedule.. then they will likely be fine continuing forward... just cut back on the fatty treats.. and if you want something more.. then switch over to unmedicated nature's best starter.. and oyster shell on the side. If that's the brand you like. It is usually higher in protein and amino acids but lower in calcium. ALL your birds will enjoy the change and benefit from it.. plus there'll be more nutrient going into your family's eggs. You'll likely see changes in overall feather condition and everything.. "layer" is a minimum standard for maximum production at minimum cost for birds that will be replaced pretty often.. not intended for maximum health and longevity of the bird whom I *THINK* gets replaced with their first molt.

Also consider collecting your table scraps and doing it at a single time during the day instead of throughout. By establishing a routine.. the flock only rushes me when it gets about that time instead of every time I enter the yard.. and I don't have layers in the box that see the activity and ditch what their doing to not miss out. For me, it's after 3 or 4 depending on how late the flock is currently laying and preferably a couple hours before dark. All birds seem to top their crop with feed before heading to roost. So I do think feed first and last are a good choice... IF I WAS feeding like that I MIGHT make it moist.. evidence shows it's better utilized that way (on par with if not better than fermenting).. and my birds all really enjoy it.

I just read again your in LA (Babe! Add that to your profile if you are able) .. oh ya.. you got predators! Get that hardware cloth.. when the shrapnel and feeds are removed the birds are next on the list!

Table scraps also invite undesirable guests.. Do that away from the coop to eliminate missed pieces being sought out near your sleeping flock.

None of us actually think your lady is underweight as far as the responses I've seen. It appears most of us are in agreement that she is the size her genetics allowed for..

My brothers, sister, and I.. have variations including height, weight, personality, etc.. despite having the same parental genetics, feeding, upbringing, etc.. We are very similar but also very different, regardless of "what people expect". I think it could be the same with your gal.

Addressing the reason for the sour crop though I think will be key to your birds health.. Is it a personal genetic weakness.. did she experience some trauma, eat something the other didn't (like a string or long grass), been on antibiotics? Is her crop emptying at night or is there something slowing things down.. Sorry, please refresh my mind as to how long she's been dealing with this and how long you've been treating, with what. Yeast infection in the crop is a sign that something is wrong.. Please be sure to check her crop in the morning before access to any feed/water.. Is there anything hard, squishy, flat, etc.. anything that needs to be massaged out or addressed. YOU already had fecal done so it isn't internal parasites slowing things down as far as we can tell. They *should* be getting enough grit since ranging.

Marek's vaccine is helpful at preventing symptoms but not a guarantee and doesn't prevent the disease.

Include photo of your coop set up if able when you post your lady.

 

[Shadrach]

If I went by hatchery weight estimates, or even the keel bone test every hen I've had here was close to death from starvation! True, it's Spain and everything is slimmer here than in the USA, but.....
It's not a hard and fast rule, but contained chickens in runs where feed is always availible are likely to weigh more than their free range counterparts. It's not difficult to understand why this could be so.
I'm not quite sure from what I've read if the hen with the crop issues is the one you believe is underweight (?)
If she is, then the time to get an estimate of a healthy weight for her is when the crop issues are dealt with.
@EggSighted4Life has given you an invaluable piece of knowledge which gets overlooked time and time again; chickens are social eaters even if they bicker about who eats first. If you want a chicken to eat then there is nothing like watching other stuff their faces to set them off. Isolated chickens ime eat less the longer they are away from their flock. It's a problem with sick chickens in general in "supportive" care situations, they don't eat enough.
There is no need to isolate a hen who is having crop issues. It's not contagious.
Yup, it's a bit more work catching the hen if they are free range to give treatment. The best time to do it is first thing in the morning with crop issues anyway because the condition of their crop in the morning is how you know if you're making progress. So, grab your hen first thing and when you've done what needs to be done put her back with the flock. She'll be much happier even if she's moulting and standoffish. The only exception to this is if she is getting picked on by the others to such an extent that she is being injured.
I look after a free range tribes. There are also other farm animals here and wildlife.
Everybody, including the dogs will have some chicken food if nothing more interesting is availible. This includes rats, mice, weasels, mink, sheep, donkeys, more wild birds then you can shake a stick at and beleive it or not I've even seem wild boar check out the chickens feed.
I feed three times a day in winter. I wait while they eat; this helps to ensure the juniors get their share and when everyone is done, I picke the feed up. They forage if they get hungry between meals.
I know meal worms are a popular treat. Thankfully we don't have them here. They're rather like McDonalds burgers. Chickens will eat them all day long and have exactly the same problems humans do who live on fast junk food diets.
Again, EggSighted4life has given you excellent advice; dump the meal worms and if you want to give them treats look at tuna, cooked peas, even cracked corn in small amounts is better for them than mealworms.
Every chicken is different, much like people in both personality and physical attributes. A bit thin, unless ill, is probably better than a bit fat.

 

[topochico225]

Thank you so much @EggSighted4Life and @Shadrach ! I'll be holding off on the mealworms, but it's difficult because my dad flings treats at the hens when they're free ranging. Will be hiding the bag!

We also moved our coop to a permanent spot and shored up as best we could with hardware cloth on Sunday. Forgot to mention!

Also, we're isolating the chicken on antifungals partly because we're throwing away her eggs while she's on meds, and we can't tell the difference between hers and the other girls and would hate to throw everyone's away just for one bird.

She hasn't sustained any trauma/eaten anything weird, and her crop empties out every night so she just has some respiratory funk going on.

Thank you again for y'all's help!