Should she weigh more?

[JoieD]

I just weighed my 24 week old Buff Orpington and she weighs 5.74 lbs. Shouldn't she weigh more? I had a fecal count done last week and no worms. She doesn't really look skinny,but I can feel her breast bone. She also free ranges the back yard about 5 hours a day. I wasn't really concerned until I weighed her.

 

[marlene]

I will be interested to see what answers you get, i got 2 new chickens today (18 weeks old) and they seem so small. Might weigh them tomorrow and see what they weigh.

 

[kari_dawn]

what kind/how much feed does she get? If she is free ranging alone, you may need to suplement her with scratch or layer feed. How much protien is she getting? How much water? That does seem to be pretty low for a POL pullet...is she laying yet?

Also, my POL orpington pullets tend to take a while to fill out...she may just need some time, but you can always add yogurt to her diet to help her build up some beneficial bacteria to help her digest her food better.

 

[JoieD]

She gets Purina Layena pellets (always available), Plenty of water and various treats, usually BOSS. I have 7 others, but I just grabbed her to weigh because she is easy to pick up. She has just started to lay,like last week. None of them look sickly,but I can feel the breast bone in all of them. Brahma,Wyandots and Easter Eggers. I just thought she would weigh at least another pound.

 

[kari_dawn]

I wouldn't worry about her just yet if she is acting normal and eatting and drinking. Where does she stand on the pecking order? are the other flock members chasing her off her food? One thing some people have said about layena is that it is somewhat low in protien...you could try offering higer calorie, higher protien treats on a regular basis (mine LOVE ground hamburger).

At this age, they may have all just gone through a growth spurt. Last year, I was super worried about all of my young birds. you could very obviously feel the keel on each one of them. A month later, every single one of them had a nice thick slippery fat pad over their keels...

 

[Chris09]

Is she from a breeder or a hatchery?
If she is from a hatchery 5 to 6 pounds is about right for her age, now if she is from a breeder I would say she is a bit under weight.


Chris

 

[JoieD]

No she's actually near the top of the order and looks like a pretty big chicken feathers and all. Some of them are smaller, but they look more petite, shorter. A few weeks ago I decided they were counting on treats too much and backed off hoping they would eat more of the pellets. Maybe we're just going through a transition. I'll weigh them all tomorrow and every week for a while,keep track and see what happens. Thanks.

 

[JoieD]

She is from a hatchery. That makes me feel a little better.