Very underweight pullet. Advice??

[Hannahnic14]

I just got this little one from a lady and as I started looking at it after she left I noticed it's severely underweight. There is no meat on its keel bone and it's little hips stick out really sharply. I thought it's hip bones were feathers they stick out so much

Poops are solid and normal, no blood, no mucus, worms or anything like that.

It's 12 weeks old. A frizzle silkie/cochin mix (does that make it a satin frizzle) It only weighs 6oz. I didn't have to coax it to eat at all, it ate like crazy. What can I do to help it gain some weight??

 

[chub_the_chick]

I think that the problem should sort itself out if she is eating on her own. As for what you can do, I would recommend adding some electrolytes and vitamins to the water to help her along with the recovery process.

 

[Hannahnic14]

I think that the problem should sort itself out if she is eating on her own. As for what you can do, I would recommend adding some electrolytes and vitamins to the water to help her along with the recovery process.

I did add electrolytes and some nutridrench to her water

 

[ChickNanny13]

It's possible she wasn't being fed much but that's awfully thin. You may want to get her poop checked for parasites. You could do a wait & see, checking her weight weekly to make sure she's gaining. What are you feeding?

 

[chub_the_chick]

I did add electrolytes and some nutridrench to her water

Great! There was another thread about this kind of thing and they suggested switching them to game bird feed, because it is higher in protein. Hoping for a fast recovery!

 

[Hannahnic14]

It's possible she wasn't being fed much but that's awfully thin. You may want to get her poop checked for parasites. You could do a wait & see, checking her weight weekly to make sure she's gaining. What are you feeding?

I'm going to keep a check on her weight for now and if she doesn't start gaining I'll get her poop checked. I'm currently feeding her unmedicated chick starter. My older birds are on All Flock because I have geese as well.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Flock Raiser is another good feed ... just include an extra dish of OS when she starts laying, an extra dish of grit too.

All Flock is good too

 

[Hannahnic14]

Great! There was another thread about this kind of thing and they suggested switching them to game bird feed, because it is higher in protein. Hoping for a fast recovery!

Thanks for the info!

 

[Hannahnic14]

Flock Raiser is another good feed ... just include an extra dish of OS when she starts laying, an extra dish of grit too.

I have both of those available for my other birds.

 

[Eggcessive]

Electrolytes should be limited to 5 days, since it can cause diarrhea. There are plenty of vitamins without electrolytes, such as human vitamin B complex 1/4 tablet daily crushed into food or a spoonful of water. Also, if she is eating well, she may not need either after some time. Good advice about looking for coccidiosis or worms. She may have just not been aggressive about getting enough food. Wet feed and scrambled egg are good for snacks.