- Jul 9, 2009
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Hello- I've never posted before, but have been following the chicken forum for a while. I've got 5 chickens- 2 production reds, 2 bard rocks, 1 ameraucana that are all a year and 4 months old. I've noticed over the past couple of months that they seem to be thinner- just when I pick them up, I can feel their breastbone more. I'm not sure if its just paranoia- because I really didn't try to feel their breastbones, until the same time I decided that they might be a little bone-y. But otherwise, they are fine- they all lay pretty regularly- although less than this time last year (I get from 2-5 eggs a day), and they are alert, happy, red combs and wattles, etc... I've noticed with the egg-laying, it seems to be more of a 29 hour cycle now, instead of a 25 hour cycle, and then they don't really like to lay late into the afternoon- especially since its so hot here. I live in Phoenix, Arizona, so we've had temperatures hovering around 108-110F for the past couple of weeks. They have an evaporative cooler, and plenty of shade and cool water, so they don't seem overly hot, although they do the usual panting and wing-spreading common in the heat. The evaporative cooler keeps their coop down to about 80-85F, and they go in and out of it, into their run, depending on how hot they are.
Anyway, my question is, should I worm them now, if I think its causing the weight loss, or should I wait until it cools down- which here, is a couple of months from now. I've checked their poop, and there doesn't seem to be any worms in it, and the poop is otherwise fine, other than being fairly liquid- which is apparently common here, with how much water they drink to stay cool in the desert.
Anyway, my question is, should I worm them now, if I think its causing the weight loss, or should I wait until it cools down- which here, is a couple of months from now. I've checked their poop, and there doesn't seem to be any worms in it, and the poop is otherwise fine, other than being fairly liquid- which is apparently common here, with how much water they drink to stay cool in the desert.
