underweight roosters?

[neophyte17]

read that if you can feel the bone in their chest then the chicken is underweight. I feed mine bread hot dogs cheese in the mix of seeds in the morning and some corn on the cob. When I leave for work they each get a plate of seed mix, rice, sunflower seeds in their run to peck at all day. They have seperate runs so I know they don't eat each others food. I give them vitamin water. They free range when I am home so they get their share of bugs. They just don't seem to put on weight. They sleep inside the house so i clean their poop from their room every day and see no worms. Any ideas?

 

[realsis]

Sometimes we can't see the worms or eggs as they are microscopic. How long has it been since they were wormed with a good wormer? I would worm them because a lot of times we can't see the worms yet they are their and they can rob the bird of nutrition. I would try worming first and see if they start to gain the weight back. Hope this helps and I wish you the best.

 

[neophyte17]

I wormed them perhaps about a year ago with fenbendazole paste. I will worm them again today. Can't hurt right?

 

[neophyte17]

Anyone know the appropriate dosage of the wormer and when to repeat? Perhaps I did it wrong the first time I wormed them.

 

[BantamLover21]

So are you feeding them any actual chicken feed at all? If chickens don't eat properly formulated feed (like if they're fed just treats, like bread, scratch grains, etc.), they often won't grow or fatten properly. Worms could be the cause, too. I'm not sure on the dosage for fenbendazole paste; hopefully someone who does will come along.

 

[neophyte17]

I tried different kinds of brands of chicken feed. They won't eat it. They are real picky eaters. don't know what to do to get him to eat the chicken feed. I tried it dry and I tried to moisten it. I wormed them yesterday. Just gave them a small pinch of the paste