So skinny!

[jak2002003]

I have a new Silkie Chicken and he is so skinny!

He seems all bones and fluff. When I pick him up I can not feel any meat on him and I can feel a big long bone down his middle to under his legs.

He is eating and pooping normally. I can't see any worms in the poop. He is not acting sick at all - he likes running about in the garden and is very alert and lively.

Could it be he was just not fed enough food at the pet store? He really feels horrible when I pick him up. My other Bantams are all fat and plump. They also get a big crop when they have eaten, but the silkies crop is always very small.

You think I need to take him to a vets?

 

[3LilBirds]

I had noticed that same thing with my Silkie. Nugget was eating and drinking and pooping fine, other then a little pasty butt, which went away. I started adding scrambled eggs and organic whole oats and it seemed to do the trick. Nugget is growing nicely now.

 

[klmclain1]

How old is he?

 

[jak2002003]

He is not fully grown yet, but over half way I think.

I have given him a warm bath with some puppy flea and tick shampoo because he was smelly and a bit dirty under his body. When he was wet I could really see how underweight his is. He is like a chicken carcass with no meat!

I can not understand how his is acting so normally. He is very alert and happy acting, I have put him in my bathroom as its warm and I want to see how much he eats without my other hens around. I have only had him for 4 days, but he was skinny when I bought him.

I will make scrambled eggs and see if he likes it. He is eating the chick crumbs and also the layer pellets and scratch. Its hard to tell how much he is swallowing though because he seem to like throwing most of his food out onto the floor!

I felt his crop and its feels very small.

I think I will take him to the vets tomorrow and see if they can give him a wormer. If he had worms, would I see evidence in the poop? His poop is normal looking and the right colour and normal size and I could not see any signs of worm or worm segments in it.

 

[3LilBirds]

If you've only had him for 4 days you might not be seeing worms just yet. My Silkie was and is much younger it sounds like. You might need to take him to the vet and get him wormed.

 

[klmclain1]

You may or may not see evidence of worms... It won't hurt to worm him. You don't really need to take him to the vet though to do that! Valbazen is a good, overall, wormer. Look for posts from dawg53 with the keywords dawg53 and Valbazen. He's the guru on worming. You'll want to do it as soon as you can get some, then again 10 days later.

My other two thoughts: 1. He's just young, and maybe with some good nutrition he'll beef up a bit, and 2. that he "smells" concerns me. How badly does he smell?

 

[jak2002003]

Oh he did not smell too bad. Just like chicken poop - and not too strong. I thought I would clean him because my partner hates him being in the house! Also the shampoo kills ticks, mites and fleas - so I thought that would be good the the chicken.

I made him a hard boiled egg and mashed it up. He ate the lot like he was starving! I think that maybe he has not been eating enough of the dry food here and before I got him.

I will take him to the vets anyway to worm him. I have to use the vet because we don't have any farming supply places near my home. I can't drive as I am partially blind. The vet is a 10 minute cycle rid away. Also I am in Thailand and so its will be funny trying to explain about the birds problem in Thai - my school does not cover chicken illnesses!

I feel a bit better now I have seen him eating. Is is really possible that such a young bird could have a lot of worms - enough to cause such weight loss? I though it might take months for the worms to multiply?