Underweight Wyandotte

[ChickenCrazy14]

Hello!
I have a Golden Laced Wyandotte hen. She is almost a year old. She is in a coop with 3 other hens and a rooster. She is sickly underweight and I just noticed it two nights ago. They all typically sleep together on a perch inside the coop and she was laying on the ground underneath the others. I thought this was very odd so I picked her up and felt her breast bone instantly. It feels like she has no breast at all. Last night, I opened her beak "manually" and tossed some food down. She seemed to enjoy it so I held my hand out for her to eat. She began to eat it, but when she goes to peck for food, she scoops her head. When she does this, she doesn't get any food in her mouth, just throws it everywhere. I tossed some more food down her throat this morning and offered her some in my hand and she wasn't interested. I felt her throat and it felt like all of the food was just sitting in her throat, which wasn't a lot of food. None of the other Golden Laced Wyandottes show these symptoms. What should I do?
Thanks in advance!
-ChickenCrazy14

 

[Karhog]

Does her crop feel hard? She may have an impactation- that would stop her eating and make her miserable. If her crop feels full or hard in the morning this is likely and will need breaking up.
Try her with a little olive oil and keep massaging the lump in her crop for a couple of minutes at a time and quite firmly. Also if you can get hold of any live white maggots,(bait or tackle shop) feed her some of these- as many as she will eat. They do a fabulous job at breaking up any mass or impactation as well as giving her some much needed protein.

 

[ChickenCrazy14]

There is no lump at all. She is just very thin and very little appetite.

 

[Karhog]

Have she been wormed recently? try and kick start her appetite with something like pro biotic yoghurt. I have a sick chook at the moment and am really having to work at getting her to eat,
Have you tried soaking her pellets in hot water and allow to cool to warm- (they usually tend to love this and I add a drop of kids multi vitamin - without the Iron)...I have been giving my girl this and anything else i can entice her with. Corn on the cob, cooked potato, apple and grapes seem to to the job at the moment. Not ideal I know but rather that than see her wither away. Good Luck

 

[ChickenCrazy14]

I will have to try your suggestion. About being wormed, no. But why would she be the only one showing these signs?

 

[Karhog]

To be honest i don't know- i am no expert and with chooks it's a matter of observation and elimatation. Unfortunately a lot of symptoms could be a myriad of diagnosis- we can only do our best and cover the basics. It's a good sign if no other chooks are showing any signs but I would still worm regularly as a precaution.

 

[ChickenCrazy14]

Thank you so much! I'm going to try and moisten food for her!

 

[seminolewind]

Hi, sorry about your hen. It sounds like what one of my hens went thru with Marek's. Wasting away, and developed that thing where they can't get the food in their mouth. I've actually had 3 that way. You probably didn't notice it for a while because they always look like they're eating, but they can't aim and pick up. And they push the food around alot.

Were these purchased together? Or was one or two added? Were they hatchery chicks with no contact with others since you got them?

If they came as one day olds from a hatchery to your home, or your hatched them all, and they have never had any contact with any others, I would say "no" to Marek's.

 

[ChickenCrazy14]

I moistened her food and she took it eagerly. I'll keep this post updated so that if anyone else has this problem, they will know if the warm moistened food remedy works!

 

[ChickenCrazy14]

Hi, sorry about your hen. It sounds like what one of my hens went thru with Marek's. Wasting away, and developed that thing where they can't get the food in their mouth. I've actually had 3 that way. You probably didn't notice it for a while because they always look like they're eating, but they can't aim and pick up. And they push the food around alot.

Were these purchased together? Or was one or two added? Were they hatchery chicks with no contact with others since you got them?

If they came as one day olds from a hatchery to your home, or your hatched them all, and they have never had any contact with any others, I would say "no" to Marek's.

It isn't Marek's because they were all hatched together and brought home on day one. The hatchery also gave them the Marek's vaccine. Thank you!