Skinny chickens

[TheGeorgiaGang]

I don't know how diatomaceous earth is used internally for parasites. It's just very small spiky silica particles that mechanically injure the exoskeletons of insects if they get it on them. I would think it would be really irritating to internal membranes of any animal that ingested it. Just getting it on my skin makes me kind of itchy. But I see by a google search that people offer it for sale as a dewormer.

 

[1muttsfan]

Before you do any deworming, invest in a fecal check by the vet. It will be money well spent.

And corn is better as a treat, not free choice or mixed with feed, as the hens will selectively eat it and it ends up unbalancing their diet, particularly the protein as said above.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Has anyone tried Diatomaceous earth? I understand that is an organic and safe for human consumption , product that can be used for worming livestock, research it on the web, i sometimes place it in my chickens food.

Apparently when it is wet it doesn't harm the parasites, so when taken internally doesn't work as a wormer. It is good for dessicating insects and drying out feed though. I place some in my feed bins sometimes.

Pumpkin seeds are supposed to have some anti-worm activity. You might look into that for prevention. But for an active worm infestation where it has started to cause signs of illness I recommend a worming medication. Worms can kill chickens. I have lost some to worms.

 

[bootedbantams27]

I have 17 Black Sex-Linked hens and they have always been skinny which I have always worried about. I feed the same thing as you do but oats instead of corn. I just started the oats in an effort to put weight on them.I live in Northeast Mississippi could the humidity and heat have anything to do with it or am I doing something wrong. The girls are a few months over a year old and for some reason they have never molted. (This is my first post, so exciting!)

 

[Den in Penn]

I have 17 Black Sex-Linked hens and they have always been skinny which I have always worried about. I feed the same thing as you do but oats instead of corn. I just started the oats in an effort to put weight on them.I live in Northeast Mississippi could the humidity and heat have anything to do with it or am I doing something wrong. The girls are a few months over a year old and for some reason they have never molted. (This is my first post, so exciting!)

Welcome to BYC.
Production laying hens don't weigh as much as the meat chickens you buy in the market. To much fat on them interferes with laying eggs. Also the less they eat in relation to how many eggs they lay is important to the economics of the farm. Your black sex links have it in their genes to be thin. So have you weighed them and compared their weigh to what they are supposed to be? Chickens do their first adult molt around when they reach eighteen months, so yours are just about there.

 

[amywig]

One of my sexlink hens went down for two weeks. I though she nay have been egg bound but not the case. She continued to eat and started to walk again with a limp. Now she no longer limps it has been 4 weeks. She won't roost or scratch eats very well on layer pellets, grass,hand full of treats weekly( oats, meal worms, sweet potatoe, sunflower seed mixture ) she is light a a feather while my other hen is heavier not fat. I have no idea why she did this. My feed store did not have chicken wormed as I was going to see if that would help. Any suggestions?

 

[Xandmich]

I'm new, this is my first post, so I hope I'm doing this in the correct manner. We have 25 mixed breed bantum hens and 2 roosters. Our hens are very skinny, you can feel their breast bone and they feel very light.

We feed laying pellets (always available), table scraps, grasses and other fresh pulled green plants, cracked corn, oyster shells. They are not free ranging but have a large pen and henhouse. What can we feed that will put some weight on them?

 

[saysfaa]

Welcome!
This is not an incorrect manner but you are likely to get better response if you ask your question in a new thread, especially compared to a thread that is this old.

If I were you, I would start by checking for internal and external parasites (worms, mites, lice). It is quite common for chickens to get these from wild birds in or near their space. or from other chickens. Some parasites spread from direct contact, others are spread in the environment. Checking for parasites periodically is important to do even if it isn't the problem now.

I would also feed only the pellets and fresh, clean, cool water and grit in separate dishes until this is resolved. If they are laying then also the oyster shells in another separate dish. Chicken diet has been very intensively researched, the commercial pellets have everything they need in proportions that work. It is not the only way to give them that but it is by far the easiest and most sure way to do so. If it isn't the problem, it won't hurt the chickens to do this.

Fresh foods are good for them but they can easily unbalance the chickens' diet. More easily than many species because chickens are so much smaller than the people choosing how much of what to give them. And many breeds are bred to be very productive (as in lay many more eggs per year than chickens did many years ago) which makes it more important that the diet be balanced.

Once this is resolved, you will be in a much better situation to feed some things other than just the pellets.

Another thing that might be going on is not having much experience with this kind of chickens - like they are young and mature slower than you are used to or are a naturally leaner type than you are used to.

Those are by far the three most likely reasons, I think. Unknowingly feeding something toxic to chickens is a less likely possibility - feeding just the pellets for a while would give you time to check into the things you are giving them.... is the grass sprayed with anything as well as what the plants and table scraps are and so on.

Good luck! Ask any more questions you have! Either way, give an update on what happens, please

 

[2384rosecottage]

I'm new, this is my first post, so I hope I'm doing this in the correct manner. We have 25 mixed breed bantum hens and 2 roosters. Our hens are very skinny, you can feel their breast bone and they feel very light.

We feed laying pellets (always available), table scraps, grasses and other fresh pulled green plants, cracked corn, oyster shells. They are not free ranging but have a large pen and henhouse. What can we feed that will put some weight on them?