Skinny chicken

[LalaP]

Hi all!
I just added a hen to my flock that had been bullied terribly elsewhere. She is very skinny and has lots of missing and broken feathers. She always wants to be in the sun and looks cold.. and we are having a very warm Fall. I’m going to put a heat lamp in the coop for her but how else can I keep her warm? What is the best way to fatten her up quickly? My girls eat a layer feed and I give them cracked corn and meal worms as treats. I can pull her aside and give her something extra but what? Today I gave her bread. My neighbor suggested tuna? Thanks!

 

[SmiYa0126]

How is she eating? I would offer raw yolks, cooked meat, plain yogurt with live cultures. All flock feed with calcium supplement. Most important to make sure she has a full crop at night.

 

[azygous]

Bread has a lot of empty calories that speed through the body without really doing much. Animal protein, as you neighbor suggested, is a much better source of the kind of nutrients that will build cells in a weak body, and it moves through the digestive system slowly so nutrients can be better absorbed. Tuna is great, but canned mackerel will give you more bang for your buck. Eggs are another great source of nutrients that will build cells. Millet, if you can find it, is a good source of grain protein, better than processed wheat flour.

Are you observing this newbie if she's in with the rest of the flock? Often, a bullied chicken will internalize that, and it can carry over to how she relates to the new flock. She may be better off remaining separated by a fence while you build her up. As long as the flock can see her, they will learn to accept her, while she can put on weight and gain strength and self confidence while observing her new flock. In a few weeks, she would do a lot better at integrating.

 

[My Three Chicks]

Hi there. Wonderful that you've taken her in and giving her care that she needs.
I recently had an ill hen who lost about 30% of her body in about 1 month due to recovery from illness we treated her for. The vet gave us a product called Oxbow Critical Care Omnivore (link below) to mix with her mash and syringe feed it to her as a supplement a few times a day. She was eating on her own but not very much. I'm happy to say within 5 weeks she's gained nearly 20% of her body weight back. The powder mix has the nutrition they need.
If your gal is eating well on her own I would suggest mixing it with her regular food into a mash and feeding it to her. I would feed her separately so the other chickens don't eat all the good stuff. (Apparently it taste good because my other girls love to eat it!)
Good luck!

https://oxbowanimalhealth.com/product/critical-care-omnivore/
(You can buy on Chewy's or Amazon and probably other places).

 

[Penpal]

The best way to put on brown fat is to let her be cold. Not freezing, just enough to get a chill. White fat is what some of us have too much of. Brown fat accumulates when we get cold. It is warm. It actually makes you warm. When you acclimate to the cold it happens because you create more brown fat.

 

[LalaP]

How is she eating? I would offer raw yolks, cooked meat, plain yogurt with live cultures. All flock feed with calcium supplement. Most important to make sure she has a full crop at night.

 

[LalaP]

She’s eating well. In fact she doesn’t stray far from the feed station and is at it often. I’ll check her crop tonight and feed her the extras you suggested. Thank you!

 

[azygous]

@Penpal I have to confess I had never heard of "brown fat" and "white fat". I looked it up. It is a thing. For anyone curious about the difference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3661118/

But I wouldn't risk chilling the chicken. I think it's enough to offer special feedings of high grade protein.

 

[LalaP]

How is she eating? I would offer raw yolks, cooked meat, plain yogurt with live cultures. All flock feed with calcium supplement. Most important to make sure she has a full crop at night.

She looks like she eats a lot because she is often at the feeder but upon closer inspection she spends some of that time pushing the feed around. I was thinking that she is spending a lot of time near the feed to establish her claim to it. I checked her crop tonight and I feel food in there but it’s softer than my other girls. Their crops are rock hard and hers is mushy. What does that mean?

 

[LalaP]

Bread has a lot of empty calories that speed through the body without really doing much. Animal protein, as you neighbor suggested, is a much better source of the kind of nutrients that will build cells in a weak body, and it moves through the digestive system slowly so nutrients can be better absorbed. Tuna is great, but canned mackerel will give you more bang for your buck. Eggs are another great source of nutrients that will build cells. Millet, if you can find it, is a good source of grain protein, better than processed wheat flour.

Are you observing this newbie if she's in with the rest of the flock? Often, a bullied chicken will internalize that, and it can carry over to how she relates to the new flock. She may be better off remaining separated by a fence while you build her up. As long as the flock can see her, they will learn to accept her, while she can put on weight and gain strength and self confidence while observing her new flock. In a few weeks, she would do a lot better at integrating.

I had her in her own fenced off area for 2 days and now I have her with 2 docile, low ranking hens. She shows interest in being with them but they walk away from her most of the time. She has shown dominance with food and on the roost and my 2 docile girls are ok with that. She seems socially smart and knows when to be assertive and when to play it cool. She has claimed one of the feeding stations and guards it a bit but there is another one so I think it’s ok. She definitely want to make sure she gets enough.