Skinny Chicken

[lilyaqha]

The temps have dropped, and from what i've read here, we keep no heat in the coop. They are opened in the morning then closed at night. The temp today is 10 degrees. I noticed they BOTH dropped weight when it first got cold, but one has bounced back, the other is kind of skinny. She tends to keep in the coop while the other one goes outside every once & again. She is not sick looking, just thin. Does anyone know why this could be?

 

[kellysmall87]

The temps have dropped, and from what i've read here, we keep no heat in the coop. They are opened in the morning then closed at night. The temp today is 10 degrees. I noticed they BOTH dropped weight when it first got cold, but one has bounced back, the other is kind of skinny. She tends to keep in the coop while the other one goes outside every once & again. She is not sick looking, just thin. Does anyone know why this could be?

She could look skinny because she is moulting maybe? Try fattening her up with some nice fatty human food, or food high in protein like scrambled eggs or meat? 10 degrees isn't cold if it's in celcius, my chickens are in minus 1 with no heat in the coop. They're managing brilliantly. x

 

[lilyaqha]

Ok! Ill try the human food. I've noticed tons of feathers, is that what moulting is? I'm actually on Farenheit.

 

[kellysmall87]

minus 12 then in C.. wow.. cold!! yeah chickens look a bit skinny when moulting, and it can take their toll on them as she is using energy to make her new feathers. I feed my chickens the fat off my meat and cut the fat off my bacon and give them it. A bit of extra fat will .. well... fatten them up! lol

 

[gryeyes]

I treat my flock to BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seed) to promote feather regrowth and because the birds love it. It's better for them than scratch.

Great for hand-feeding, too.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

You can also feed them cat food(moist preferably), very high in protein and fat. Many feed that when chickens molt. How old are you chickens, if over a year old then likely it is a molt.

 

[lilyaqha]

Not quite a year old. We got them in May of last year, and I was told they were 10 days old. There are feathers all over the coop though.

 

[kellysmall87]

Another suggestion is mites? That makes them lose their feathers sometimes. Check under their wings and around their vent for little mites.

 

[lilyaqha]

Will do! Thanks