Thin chicken in otherwise healthy flock

[samanthagr]

Hi everyone! First time posting, but I've looked around and seen similar questions but not exactly the same, so wondering if anyone has any thoughts on my chicken.

I'm raising a mixed flock of 6-hens in my backyard, they're about 5-months old now (not laying yet - so can't evaluate whether my bird has stopped laying...). About 2 weeks ago, one of my chickens (she is a whiting true green) started acting a bit lethargic, tucking her neck in, not running around with the rest of the flock. I thought it might just be because she is the smallest of the hens and wasn't digging the sudden cold snap. Well, I caught her then and she did seem a bit thin, but otherwise she is eating, albeit not usually as voraciously going for black soldier fly larvae as she used to. She is the first one out of the coop in the morning and goes straight for her food. Her poop is sometimes watery, I can tell where she has been roosting at night

She has been more active recently, but I have been keeping my eye on her, checking her breast and crop every few days. I did send in a fecal sample through the mail this weekend and am waiting to see if she has worms.

She is still alive 2 weeks later, but I caught her yesterday and her keel is SO sharp. I caught a few of my other hens just to compare, and she seems so very thin compared to the rest of the girls. Yesterday, her crop also seemed like it was full of water, which had me concerned about sour crop - but I got her off the roost this morning and her crop is empty. So, I guess I'm asking if anyone knows why she wouldn't be putting on weight even though she is eating. Worms seems like the best guess to me, which is why I sent in a fecal test, but if anyone has any other thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks so much in advance!!

 

[azygous]

Good call on the worms. That would be my first guess.

Another very common cause of weight loss, especially in such a young chicken, is bullying. The signs are what you've observed - the sharp keel bone indicating a chicken may be bullied from eating enough. This is reinforced by your observation that she's the first out of the coop in the morning and she heads straight for the feeder.

What color is her poop? Better, post a photo of it. Please try to get a pic where the poop is visible and not lost in the litter. If it has green in it, it's further evidence of starvation.

On the chance that she's a bullying victim, here's what you can do to fix that. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/

 

[samanthagr]

Good call on the worms. That would be my first guess.

Another very common cause of weight loss, especially in such a young chicken, is bullying. The signs are what you've observed - the sharp keel bone indicating a chicken may be bullied from eating enough. This is reinforced by your observation that she's the first out of the coop in the morning and she heads straight for the feeder.

What color is her poop? Better, post a photo of it. Please try to get a pic where the poop is visible and not lost in the litter. If it has green in it, it's further evidence of starvation.

On the chance that she's a bullying victim, here's what you can do to fix that. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/

Hi there! Thank you so much for your reply - albeit a week ago. I wanted to see if I saw any improvement after taking your advice! Her worms test came back negative. I do think it is at least partially bullying - she reacts really subtly to the other hens pecking her but she is obviously at the bottom of the pecking order. I've given them multiple feeding location options and am giving them a lot more free range time, and from what I can tell her temperament has improved so much! But, she isn't gaining muscle, and is still so skinny. I've attached two pictures of her poo - still loose sometimes but not always. Do the pictures of her poop indicate starvation to you, or maybe something else? Should I expect to see an increase in the muscle mass around her keel after only a week?

Thank you so much again for your reply and insight!

 

[azygous]

Yes. It appears she's starving. She needs to learn that it's okay to shove her way to the feeder and grab her share. This is how. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/