Underweight hen, bossy polish!

[TeePants]

Our silkie/EE cross girls have just started laying! Everything was going so well but naturally, I had to throw a wrench in it.

We’ve had these four silkie/EE mixes from MPC since early September. They graduated to their enclosed coop/run in October and seemed to be doing well -

So naturally, I went and added a new pullet.

She’s a black/white splash Polish who was around the same age as our girls and being bullied in her old flock. She seemed to integrate well with our girls, a little standoffish and reactive at first, but I had thought they were getting along fine.

When we got the first four birds, me, my two kids and my wife all named one, and my hen, Calamity Jane, has been an absolute pain in the neck, haha.

She was the first to lay, and had a minor vent prolapse and had to come inside the house for an Epsom soak and to rest it off. Then she flew into not one, but two fly traps, and came inside again for a bath and hair cut. And then yesterday, bless her heart, she decided to dust bathe right in someone’s cecal poo.

I went to help her get it off in their actual dust bath (she had been rolling in the litter instead) when I noticed her keel bone seemed more prominent than the other hens. I’d been worried about parasites for a while now so I called our avian vet who sees our parrots and lucked out and got a same day appointment.

Vet agrees with my assessment that she’s thin (4/9 body scale), and I remarked that yesterday her crop had been empty when all the other girls’ were full in the coop, but that today (now that she’s in my bathroom) it’s full again.

We are running a fecal, and if that comes back negative, we will likely opt for bloodwork and possibly an x ray (although I’m not sure about an xray; they are kept in the run full time and she’s passing normal looking stool). However, I’m worried that between all the indoor stints she’s had due to being kind of goofy and the Polish hen being pretty snippy, that she’s not feeling safe enough to get to the feeder unless I’m out there with her.

I have already placed an order for a smaller, secondary feeder/waterer to be mounted on the other end of the run from the original ones. For now she’s in our basement bathroom where she has free access to food and water away from the other hens.

Is there anything else I can do? While I am home most of the day, when I glance out into the yard to see how the girls are doing they’re usually just milling around, so I’m surprised that she’s lost weight.

They DID just start laying in earnest, and I wonder if maybe that’s impacting their body condition too. They have free access to scratch and peck layer crumble all day except at night when they’re in their coop.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Even with only 4 or 5 birds having additional feeders spread out is a good idea to give lower ranked birds a chance to eat.

With the new feeder location, do you have clutter to block visual line of sight from that to the other feeder?

 

[cavemanrich]

If you suspect a hen is afraid to get to the feed,,,,,,(due to bullying) consider multiple dishes with feed and water in separate locations.
Also good to have objects blocking direct line of sight between these feed stations.


WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[TeePants]

Even with only 4 or 5 birds having additional feeders spread out is a good idea to give lower ranked birds a chance to eat.

With the new feeder location, do you have clutter to block visual line of sight from that to the other feeder?

Yes, I’m putting the new feeder when it comes in on the other side of the door into the run, which is set into the coop by one foot, so that there will be two mesh walls plus the expanse of the door.

The new feeder I got only has one port though. Their original one has three. I’m regretting that already. Ugh. I ordered it from Chewy though and I am not sure how good they are with returns. I just grabbed the first one I saw as I was also arguing with my 13 year old

All the hens seem a little thin though. I’m going to start weighing them before putting them in the coop at night daily and see if they’re gaining weight; they should be at this age (about 28 weeks).

Edit to add: wait, I forgot I also ordered trough style feeders in addition to the “port” style feeders. I didn’t want to use them originally to cut back on spilled feed but they come in today, so I’ll put them up and see if maybe that helps too.

 

[TeePants]

Update!

This morning I checked all their crops at around 9 or 10am and they all felt empty, which was odd because they’d been out for hours. This included the Polish. I went ahead and put the troughs out for them. I had to put treats on top but they’ve been checking them out and eating. I am also going to move their big feeder somewhere more open so they don’t have to press close together to get their heads into the access ports.

Still waiting for the fecal results. Other than feeling thin, they look normal? They were excited about treats. Could it be the food? They only started laying in the last month, so I switched them to Scratch and Peck Layer Crumble from the Grower Crumble. I also mixed some Buff Chicks pepper supplement in.

Could they maybe just not like the crumbles? It’s 16% protein; should I look at switching to a brand with higher protein? They also have access to a small dish of oyster shell and grit.

For the troughs, do I need to throw the leftover feed away daily or leave it out? The run is enclosed top to bottom in hardware cloth so nothing can get in, but the open troughs do expose more feed to bugs etc.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The food in the troughs is dry feed? As long as it doesn't get wet you can just leave it out though I'd minimize how much I put out at a time to reduce waste.

Have you seen them eating the food reliably or are they throwing it everywhere and walking off? If you liked your old grower feed no need to switch to layer as long as calcium is on the side.

Also don't get too fixated on weights if the vet comes back with nothing (like worms could be an issue). Very few of my birds are close to breed standard weight or size. As long as crops are filling and emptying that's what matters.

 

[TeePants]

The food in the troughs is dry feed? As long as it doesn't get wet you can just leave it out though I'd minimize how much I put out at a time to reduce waste.

Have you seen them eating the food reliably or are they throwing it everywhere and walking off? If you liked your old grower feed no need to switch to layer as long as calcium is on the side.

Also don't get too fixated on weights if the vet comes back with nothing (like worms could be an issue). Very few of my birds are close to breed standard weight or size. As long as crops are filling and emptying that's what matters.

It’s not weight, although we are weighing them, it’s body condition that has me concerned. I can feel their keel pretty prominently.

The grower feed was the same brand as the layer, so I assume if the issue is feed then it’s the brand and not the “type”. Our vet is gonna call tomorrow hopefully with fecal results and to discuss how to get the girls to plump up a bit.

They seem to eat the food? Most of the day they like to scratch and dust bathe and groom but I did see them going to the old feeder before this and I see them hitting the troughs too now.

The run is roofed so the troughs should stay dry! I’ll check it in the mornings to make sure, but I’m glad I don’t need to toss it; I hate to waste feed.