Skinny chicken. What do I do?

[ChickenCanoe]

She doesn't seem to be close to laying so I'd stop giving her layer feed and switch back to a grower.

 

[UkuleleLady]

Beautiful chicken. My guess would be 15-16 weeks old if that's a single comb (and not pea, but looks single with tiny spikes starting). She is nearing maturity. You could post pic on Breed/Gender forum and ask what breed and age to get more input. But does look like a pullet to me.

Consider a small bag of starter feed for a couple of weeks. Won't hurt even if she is older than my guess.

Few poops 'cause wasn't eating. Just keep inspecting them. Seems that most flock owners often advise worming instead of investigation, but I personally would not unless you find proof, but thats my opinion. Especially in view of her apparent good appetite. Your original concern was dust bathing too long and glad her action led you to discover she needed more nutrition. Maybe all is just "nerves" and she'll turn out to be your favorite new buddy.

Nice sick bay. I bought a cage like that to try to break a broody, but have not had the heart to confine her. Put it in storage in case I do need to isolate one.

Thank you. I think she's really pretty too. I haven't been making her stay in the cage a whole lot but today she's going to have to go in there early and stay late because I have a gig on Sunday afternoons and she has not been going into the cage herself for me at night, instead she found a nice little hidey hole in the yard that I keep having to pull her out of. I would let her stay there but we have raccoons in our yard almost every night so I don't think she's safe. I actually already posted her in the breed forum because I wasn't sure what she was. Woman I got her from said she was a laced Wyandotte but she doesn't look like the pics of them. The general consencus was Easter egger or hybrid. I just went back through the e-mails that I was exchanging with her former owner and she did say that the chicken is almost 6 months old.

 

[UkuleleLady]

She doesn't seem to be close to laying so I'd stop giving her layer feed and switch back to a grower.

is grower the same thing as scratch?

 

[cafarmgirl]

is grower the same thing as scratch?

No, grower is a crumble. Has less calcium and more protein then layer feed. Scratch is just a mix of corn and a few other grains, it's high in fat and low in protein and other nutrients.

 

[sunflour]

is grower the same thing as scratch?

No, scratch is just corn ….an empty high calorie carb treat and should be given in small amts.

Grower or starter is what you should feed to newborn chicks up til teenage = 18 weeks. Some companies call it starter for multipurpose chickens or grower for meat chickens. Check at your local feed/seed or search on line for the brand you buy. Most major manufacturers have web sites that list their products…I fed mine a purina starter feed til all were at laying age.

My girls don't like corn or scratch = broken up corn. Kinda like a high calorie carb treat. Mine prefer dried mealy woms, seed, raisins, green leafy veggies or cooked eggs. OR BETTER real live bugs and worms. Guess they have a higher expectation in their diet!

 

[Sylviaanne]

You can deworm her with Valbazen or liquid Safeguard for goats. GIve 1/2 cc with a small, needless syringe and repeat the dose in 10 days.

I would stop mixing the scratch with the layer feed. She's going to only pick out the scratch and leave the pellets and you really want her eating the most nutritious food right now. I'd only toss out a little scratch as a treat once a day, a handful is plenty. The scrambled egg and meal worms are great treats as well to boost her protein a bit. Does she have grit as well?

Something else to keep in mind when she moves out with your other chicken is coccidiosis. She may be exposed to strains of cocci at your place that are new to her and put her at risk. Good idea to keep Corid on hand just in case. Same for your other hen, this new bird can bring along strains of cocci that are new to her as well. Just need to keep an eye on them both the first few weeks when you put them out together.

Edited to add: She looks pretty good in those pic's! Nice bird. She looks nice and bright eyed and alert. Sometimes the stress of moving to a new home can put them off their feed a bit. She may just need time to settle in and get some good food into her.

I KNOW there has been coccidiosis on my land 8 years ago. I am planning on bringing in some geese, ducks and guineas. They will be in quarantine totally away from where the coccidiosis began but after all these years I imagine that any germs would have been walked everywhere on the property where people have walked. We have had no more problem with it for the past 8 years. None of my new babies hatched by incubator nor my Sam who is now 5 months old have shown any signs of having it. Should I have the Corid on hand just in case? This can be mixed in their water, right?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It's a good idea to have corid on hand. I think it keeps for about 3 years.

There's probably at least a couple species of Eimeria (coccidia) on every piece of land all over the world. I small amount ingested will allow them to develop resistance and you'll see no symptoms.

 

[BeulahBreezes]

I think she looks great! I have an EasterEgger too and she looked like yours at this age. She has a thinner body form than some of my other hens. My Miss Violet started laying eggs at about 5 1/2 months old. She's such a wonderful chicken...friendly and 'talkative' too!
ps...yes, I only use scratch as a winter time treat......there is no protein or nutrition in scratch. ~Beulah

 

[UkuleleLady]

I am very happy to report that she is eating her feed now. She got to have scrambled eggs and mealworms again this morning for breakfast. She still didn't seem interested in her feed though, but I went out to check on her little while ago and her crop looked full for the first time since I got her, and she ate a whole bunch of her feed right in front of me. I'm relieved. Thank you all so much for your advice and input.

 

[sunflour]

I am very happy to report that she is eating her feed now. She got to have scrambled eggs and mealworms again this morning for breakfast. She still didn't seem interested in her feed though, but I went out to check on her little while ago and her crop looked full for the first time since I got her, and she ate a whole bunch of her feed right in front of me. I'm relieved. Thank you all so much for your advice and input.

happy dance!