JM Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 One of the girls escaped to next door again this afternoon, and when I picked her up, my neighbour said that she looked very thin. She (chicken not neighbour!) is the smallest of the three - her keel (breast bone?) is very prominent when you pick her up, but she eats for Britain and is really perky. I have noticed that she's not laying every day, and her eggs are smaller than they have been. I'm due to worm them in a week or so - I'll start that tomorrow instead. So - how do you tell if they are the right weight? And is worming worth doing earlier than planned?? Thanks Jill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 its an inexact art! We just go by picking them up and compare both the weight and feel of them with last time and each other. Some hens are a good 'handful' whilst others are naturally smaller. And of course different breeds/hybrids are made differently. Mind you, we've had 2 hens who were always light with a prominent keelbone - neither were very hardy and both died young. If you ever get offered the choice of LF hens to buy and can handle them I would always go for the one which feels 'chunkier' (as long as its not fat of course - you need to be able to feel the keelbone a bit). I would worm asap as that is a classic sign of beak stuffing but not appearing to maintain a good body weight. I would use flubenvet, not VermX. You could always pop them on the scales.....even fill in an excel spreadsheet.....weekly weigh-ins......think I'd better go for a lie down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Hi One of mine is broody and as I am constantly picking her up and putting her off the nest she has plucked a lot of her breast bone and looks oven ready! However I dont think she would be a meaty bird she is a bag of bones! She is healthy etc and wormed...bright eyed eating etc etc She is a speckledy....your bird had the energy to disappear to the neighbours sounds ok to me I think the types I have are not table birds?? We probably all see the supersized supermarket birds?? indie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 Thanks for the comments. She certainly looks and acts healthy - but I will worm them all starting tomorrow anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Laying hens are generally on the thin side, with a prominent keel bone. It won't do any harm to worm her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
