Weak skinny chicken

[AMD10]

I am trying to figure out what is wrong with my 2yr old buff Orpington chicken. She’s very weak, stands up but easily falls over when she walks. And so skinny, her breast bone is protruding. I do see her walk over to her food and water without an issue but when I let the others free range, she stays in the run/very close by. She was getting beat up a lot by my Amerucana relentlessly, so I rehomed that chicken thinking it would resolve but it has not. She has not laid an egg in a couple months (obviously). I was looking into that’s going on and I am thinking maybe coccidiosis? But my other 3 chickens are fine, no issues. Any other suggestions?

 

[coach723]

It's possible that she was bullied and kept away from food and has gotten weak. If you pull her aside and feed her something separately, will she eat it? Try scrambled egg. Have you ever wormed her? It's also possible that she has a reproductive problem. Does her abdomen, below the vent, between the legs, feel bloated? If you can get her to eat, then also give her a b complex tablet or capsule once a day for a few weeks. Just put it in her beak and push it back. The b's are very safe.

 

[AMD10]

It's possible that she was bullied and kept away from food and has gotten weak. If you pull her aside and feed her something separately, will she eat it? Try scrambled egg. Have you ever wormed her? It's also possible that she has a reproductive problem. Does her abdomen, below the vent, between the legs, feel bloated? If you can get her to eat, then also give her a b complex tablet or capsule once a day for a few weeks. Just put it in her beak and push it back. The b's are very safe.

Oh I never even thought of that. Yes she will eat if I offer things. And I have seen her drinking too. I bought and started corid today because her symptoms sounded a lot like coccidiosis, but other than today, no she has not been wormed. Abdomen and vent all look normal. I can definitely try vitamin b, just normal caps? I have the 1000mcg ones that I take myself.

 

[Eggcessive]

This is what I would use, but any B complex is fine:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Spring-V...MI7Njh1o-djwMVpHhHAR0oXQaAEAQYASABEgLWWvD_BwE
Offer her egg, moistened chicken feed, and bits of canned cat food or tuna also can be good with plenty of water.

 

[coach723]

If they have riboflavin and thiamine in them, it should help. I use a Super B complex myself. I doubt it's coccidiosis, but other parasites can possibly cause weight loss. I would work on feeding her for a while, make sure she's eating enough, do the vitamins. If you can get a weight on her, do that, and then weigh her regularly and see if she's gaining. You can take her crumbles or pellets and mix them in some water to make a mash, many birds like it that way and it may encourage her to eat. Scrambled egg, canned tuna have protein, which may help. I use scrambled egg a lot when trying to get them to eat. If she starts to improve with eating and vitamins, then I would concentrate on that. If she's been being kept from feeders, you might try adding some and rearranging them to different spots, she may be in the habit of avoiding spots due to what happened in the past. If she still doesn't seem to be gaining, then worming with Safeguard or Valbazen will take care of any possible parasites, but I'd hold off if possible to see if she just needs to eat better. How her droppings look could be important as well.