Thin Salmon Favorelle

[DrBlood]

Hi all need some help, . My girl Willow whom is 2 years old has lost weight , she's eating, drinking, layibg and acting normal. Noticed a little weight loss after 2 weeks of brooding but that was over 2 months ago and she still hasn't gained weight. All my other girls (5 other hens and a rooster) are doing well and have no weight loss. I feed them layer crumbles; get veggies daily with egg shells and some berries; grubs in the afternoon; have cracked corn ; and free range most of the day. As mentioned I see her eating everything but still thin? Only different thing in flock is she raised 2 chicks this year they are now 6 months old and the polish turned out to be a rooster, he does seem to want to mate with her but he's not overly aggressive or mean. He's actually a pretty cool guy. Unlike my original rooster that was raised with her who was not very nice so we found him a different home (this was before she raised chicks) she and her sisters were very happy after that's when all feather grew in and they started brooding and I got 2 chicks for them to raise.

Sorry that was alot just worried about my girl.

 

[Oldegarlicshnapp]

Random idea: you could try wetting or full on fermenting her feed. Both would be for digestibility. Although if her immune system is low I’d hold back of fermentation. If you end up doing it, I bring it up for the purpose of bacteria directly supplying her broken down nutrition.

If you wanna build her immune system prior then common lactic acid products such as yogurt or cottage cheese are good in small doses to prevent sour crop.

My hen was born in 2020 and she’s a little skinny these days too. She does very well when I give her high protein though. Especially foods high in testosterone.
A little bit of ginger is also good once a month or more time in between.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Has she been wormed recently? What % protein is your layer? Also you're feeding quite a bit of extra which will only take away from the nutritional value of their feed which she needs right now.

 

[DrBlood]

Has she been wormed recently? What % protein is your layer? Also you're feeding quite a bit of extra which will only take away from the nutritional value of their feed which she needs right now.

16 percent protein 2.5 fat and 7 fiber. I have not wormed her I was thinking of doing that but I wanted to get some input. I'm new to being a hen mama. Can you recommend a dewormer? And what should I cut out ?

 

[DrBlood]

Random idea: you could try wetting or full on fermenting her feed. Both would be for digestibility. Although if her immune system is low I’d hold back of fermentation. If you end up doing it, I bring it up for the purpose of bacteria directly supplying her broken down nutrition.

If you wanna build her immune system prior then common lactic acid products such as yogurt or cottage cheese are good in small doses to prevent sour crop.

My hen was born in 2020 and she’s a little skinny these days too. She does very well when I give her high protein though. Especially foods high in testosterone.
A little bit of ginger is also good once a month or more time in between.

I have not tried yogurt or cottage cheese ; how much would I give ? Fresh ginger or powder ?

 

[Tonyroo]

I use a 1 cup serving of yogurt for my flock. It's literally in a ceramic cup. They love Lucerne strawberry low fat yogurt it has a well balanced texture like soft custard. They eat it all throughout the day, tidbit at a time.

 

[Oldegarlicshnapp]

I have not tried yogurt or cottage cheese ; how much would I give ?

A couple bites as a little snack. Just don’t give her the whole thing in one go. The cheese in cottage cheese provides protein as well.

Fresh ginger or powder ?

Ginger powder, or lightly cook copped up ginger on the oven’s lightest setting till you can crumble it like powder. If your birds aren’t picky they can have it fresh, but probably best if you chop it small and hide it. This is very good for molting.

I’d also keep a close eye on her eating specifically to see if she’s getting much. If she’s not going between water and food evenly, wetting the food will help.