Chicken too thin!

[Sabz]

Hi all,

How could I put some weight on a chicken - assuming it is healthy, doesn't have worms, is adult, etc. Just a chicken that was in a huge flock and didn't always get access to the food due to pecking order, for example.

Would we give the chicken some starter/growing feed? And I was thinking about "fattier" threats, like yogurt (of course not the non-fat kind), and.. what else?

Thanks

 

[Den in Penn]

Assuming it is healthy and acting normal, I would just let nature take its course and let the chicken reach its programed weight at its own speed on a normal diet. Laying hens are always thinner then the birds you see in the supermarket.

 

[Sabz]

Oh ok, thanks.

At the moment I am feeding all of them the "regular" feed for layers, as well as germinations, veggies and I added garlic yesterday following a post on BYC explaining how healthy the garlic could be. I suppose this can help her eat more than if she was just on regular feed. I thought the colors would attract her! Yesterday I gave her orange pepper, broccoli, the garlic and a banana. I almost sat down to eat with them lol.

I wouldn't think they would like garlic, but that thinner chick jumped on it and ate it immediately!

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Yes, she will fatten up if she has the option too. Sounds like you are feeding her well. Yes, garlic sure is amazing in chicken health and they love it!

 

[Sabz]

Is there a point in a flock where you need to put more than one feeding spot, if the pecking order does in sort that some chicken won't eat?

I doubt that with 5 chicken, this would happen, but just asking to be sure I often see the feeder with no one in front of it, so I think they can all go eat when hungry.. plus if the "alpha" chicken is at the feeder, the others can eat the veggies I give them, I don't feed those near the regular feeder!

 

[SavageDestiny]

Is there a point in a flock where you need to put more than one feeding spot, if the pecking order does in sort that some chicken won't eat?

I doubt that with 5 chicken, this would happen, but just asking to be sure I often see the feeder with no one in front of it, so I think they can all go eat when hungry.. plus if the "alpha" chicken is at the feeder, the others can eat the veggies I give them, I don't feed those near the regular feeder!

Yes, it can happen. I had 4 birds and one girl, actually not the top hen, bullied the lowest girl mercilessly at feeding time. If I didn't have multiple spots with feed, she did not get to eat because she would get chased off by this one hen. Any time she approached food she'd get chased off, so there needed to be multiple spots for her to run to in order to eat. Not a problem anymore since I had to cull the bully due to health issues anyway though.

 

[Lilyput]

Newbie........Need Help! I took a bird to the vet today to try and get on top of cough; but that is not my concern. She said my chicken was thin and breast bone was prominent. I have 6 other chickens; still pullets Not quite sure how old they are (think born in March?; and seller told me to start Layer Food July 31) How old is that?) They are mixed flock ameracauna, lace, speckled sussex, brahma, aussie, buff orphington, welsner. When I got home I checked all the other chickens and they, too, had prominent breast bones. They have fermented chick feed available all day. They don't have worms. They also have access to grazing in a fenced yard with grass, plants, and plenty of bugs. I feed them a small treat of dried worms in the morning, and some (very little) other scraps. They seem to eat well. They are definitely growing and getting larger and seem to be fine. She scared me so I bought some scratch and now throwing that out also. I think they are a little skinny because they are growing rapidly; what do you guys think? Really appreciate your opinions.

 

[Sabz]

Same kind of worry on my side!

From what I know, the layers are thinner then meat chicks, of course.. But I don't know the difference between "normal thin" and too thin. If it was my parrot with the prominent breast bone like that, he would really be under weight!

 

[debp]

I am curious, too, about how to know if your chicks are too thin and/or getting enough to eat. All my 23 11-week old chicks act healthy, but I notice that the lower ranking chicks don't even attempt to eat until the New Hampshires and brown leghorns have left the coop. If they approach the feeder when everyone else is first eating, they get chased off, mainly by the leghorns - though I have 4 little feeders so the low-ranked sometimes gather around one of them - but 1 or 2 seem discouraged enough to just stay back. But, all the chicks have prominent breast bones and feel skinny to me when I pick them up. I figured they are just growing, and this must be normal. The one thing that has concerned me is that I see a fair number of feathers in the coop - these are my first chicks- and I don't understand why they would be losing feathers at this age, unless maybe there is a nutrition problem. They eat chick starter (20-21% protein) - measured quantity, but they never clean up the dry feeder completely - and they have free range access to ungrazed pasture land most days.

 

[Lilyput]

This is a post from another site on Treats.

Thanks K9Dave, Because I know they are all eating fine and growing (it seems every day), I just think they are adolescents and will fill in by their breastbone when they are done growing everywhere else. I would be more worried if the welsner was the only one with the prominent breast bone, but all seven have the same feel. Not sure about their voices, but they are more aggressive in their play with each other. They all fit on the top roost of the coop. I'm not seeing anyone in particular picked on. I have a little Aussie who I think is a week or 2 younger. She was always scared of everything, but I saw her "chest butt" my Ameracauna the other day, who then backed down. It's really interesting watching the changing dynamics. What do you do about the heat in Phoenix. It's been in the high 90's all week in NC and chickens don't seem to like it.

Sounds like we have a flock similar in age and mine sound physically to be the same. Within the past week or so, their little voices have begun to change. Is this the case for you too? Just curious how close our flocks are. I purchased mine March 15th and they were maybe a few days old I think.

I'm new to this as well and look forward to others advice.

I'm thinking that we're on track with healthy birds. I've been waiting for them to kinda mature and see if that put some weight on them. Like with puppies sometimes, it's hard keeping weight in them because of how hyper they are. Then finally they mature a bit and get true weight. IMO with animals I have experience in, it's safer and healthier for them to be thin when young so their bones can grow at a good strong pace.