Underweight and pale red laying hen

[Angela Gazey]

Hi,
I recently began my first year at Uni, this has been a busy time so my parents have been looking after the chickens.
Study break began today so I went to check on how they were going. I found that our 3 year old brown laying hen appears to be underweight and is very pale. There is no evidence of external parasites or any injuries from our Rooster. She is not laying currently and there doesn't appear to be any evidence of an egg laying problem. (We are unsure of her breed - possibly Isa Brown or Rhode Island Red? - as we were given her 3 years ago (when she was still a chick) by a guy who had her locked up inside a 45 degree shed and didn't want her). The chickens are fed primarily on layer pellets with access to grass some free range insects etc. She is moulting currently - could this be the problem? Are worms a possibility, have never wormed the chickens but all of the others appear to be very healthy.
Thank you for any help / suggestions you can give me

 

[Noobchick]

Could be just from moulting. Chickens usually don't lay during a molt, especially not if it's a sudden, hard molt where they lose lots of feathers all at once. Sometimes they drop weight- one of mine did. I'd check her poop, too just to be sure. Check for any wiggly things in it, which could be worms. Depending on how worried you are, you could take a sample of her poop to a vet for a test for worms. If she's molting, though, I'd be hesitant to treat her for anything else until you know for sure. Molting is hard enough on them as it is without adding other stressors on top of it.

 

[loveourbirds]

x2 I figure its probably just molt. depending on what stock she was hatched from, I have seen some hybrid layers that don't do well after the 2nd year. have you upped the protein for her while she is molting?

 

[Angela Gazey]

Thanks ,
I've decided its probably from the moult - she did seem a little better today. Being relatively free range they have access to worms etc which I figured would be good protein - should I be giving her extra and if so what do you recommend?

 

[loveourbirds]

if your local feed store has calf manna by the pound you can use it. throw a handful in with several chickens every day. ive also heard of people using hog pellets.

depending on what kind of feed your using, you might be able to up the protein easily by switching types/brands.

 

[Noobchick]

How's your girl doing?

I've had good success with raw oatmeal and freeze dried mealworms for extra protein.

 

[loveourbirds]

im glad to hear shes doing better.

 

[Angela Gazey]

Hi,
She's doing much better
I actually got an egg from her yesterday - it's our winter in Perth, I didn't think she would start laying again until spring !

 

[loveourbirds]

glad to hear, I think she will be fine in spring.