My beloved Peach is losing weight
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Any advice in this section should not be taken to overrule advice by a certified licensed veterinarian. You should always consult a veterinarian for treatment or diagnoses of animal disease or injury. The information in this thread is simply the experience of board members and is not to be taken as a substitution for veterinary advice or treatment.
Any advice in this section should not be taken to overrule advice by a certified licensed veterinarian. You should always consult a veterinarian for treatment or diagnoses of animal disease or injury. The information in this thread is simply the experience of board members and is not to be taken as a substitution for veterinary advice or treatment.
My beloved Peach is losing weight
She acts fine...foraging and seems normal enough. But when I picked her up last nightI noticed that her breastbone is quite prominent. Dewormed last week. No obvious signs of mites or lice infestation. Should I powder her anyway? Any suggestions?
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Re: My beloved Peach is losing weight
That's a hard one. See if any of her feathers are coming out, she could be molting. Chech her breathing, any conjestion? Check her vent see if there are any mites or lice.
Cheers Karen
Cheers Karen
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- windwalkingwolf
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Re: My beloved Peach is losing weight
Are you able to separate her? Her might give you some clues as to what's going on. Also, how old is she, and what is her diet?
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Re: My beloved Peach is losing weight
Shes about 9 months old. Eats layer crumble and whatever she finds while free-ranging during the day :)
She's the youngest and always a bit of an odd chick, always off on her own exploring. She seems acting normal for Peach.
I could put her in my dog crate for a few days and feed her garlic and ACV water if that might help?
She's the youngest and always a bit of an odd chick, always off on her own exploring. She seems acting normal for Peach.
I could put her in my dog crate for a few days and feed her garlic and ACV water if that might help?
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- WLLady
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Re: My beloved Peach is losing weight
is her comb really pale or really really dark reddish almost purple? (it doesn't look it from the photo....but....). if she's not looking or sounding bad, and still eating and drinking and her droppings are normal (not super runny or grey or anything), then she may just need to get higher protein. sometimes free rangers in the spring will fill up on the grass and then don't eat enough other stuff and actually lose weight because they just cannot eat enough. is her crop super full all the time?
you can always try giving her some dry cat food as treats and see if that helps. unfortunately 9 months is the perfect time for heart disease to appear in younger birds.....i just lost one to a heart issue last night, not a super old bird....but i suspected because she was also losing weight but seemed "normal" but her comb was super super pale....and she hadn't laid any eggs in a couple of weeks....
you can always try giving her some dry cat food as treats and see if that helps. unfortunately 9 months is the perfect time for heart disease to appear in younger birds.....i just lost one to a heart issue last night, not a super old bird....but i suspected because she was also losing weight but seemed "normal" but her comb was super super pale....and she hadn't laid any eggs in a couple of weeks....
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- windwalkingwolf
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Re: My beloved Peach is losing weight
Garlic in very small amounts won't hurt, but a steady dose can be a bad idea. Overuse can cause intestinal irritation that results in B12 deficiency, and a nasty type of anemia.
Apple Cider Vinegar use is a bit overrated to my mind...the main idea behind it is to consume enough to change the PH of the body enough to make it inhospitable to bacteria, viruses, fungus and parasites. There are multiple problems with this theory. One problem is that bodies are very, very good at maintaining a normal PH, and for very good reason! Tip the balance one way or the other, even a little, and things go very awry...healthy cells die and organs quit working. Added to that, certain strains of e-coli and Helicobacter just LOVE acid conditions, and those strains also tend to be "food" to some very nasty chicken viruses, meaning that the viruses will not take hold unless in the presence of a specific concurrent bacterial infection, so you really wouldn't want to encourage the growth of acid-loving bacteria.
Another reason people tend to use ACV (with the "mother") is that they believe it contains probiotics that are good for gut health. By the time the vinegarization process is complete, there are very few 'good' bacteria left alive, and any that are, are destroyed by the digestive process. If you're wanting to give probiotics to your birds, there are good ones specially formulated with massive numbers of live culture, to make sure some make it to the intestines still kicking. Any feed store or TSC should have livestock probiotics, and even acidophilus capsules for people are better choices than ACV to my mind.
Also, WLLady may be on to something...Peach may be glutting herself on new grass tips, and not eating enough layer feed. There aren't a lot of bugs out yet to make sure the birds get enough protein, and I know mine right now are like kids in a candy store with all the new green. Unfortunately, chickens aren't vegetarians, so if they fill up on grass and weeds, and not much else, they'll drop weight.
Apple Cider Vinegar use is a bit overrated to my mind...the main idea behind it is to consume enough to change the PH of the body enough to make it inhospitable to bacteria, viruses, fungus and parasites. There are multiple problems with this theory. One problem is that bodies are very, very good at maintaining a normal PH, and for very good reason! Tip the balance one way or the other, even a little, and things go very awry...healthy cells die and organs quit working. Added to that, certain strains of e-coli and Helicobacter just LOVE acid conditions, and those strains also tend to be "food" to some very nasty chicken viruses, meaning that the viruses will not take hold unless in the presence of a specific concurrent bacterial infection, so you really wouldn't want to encourage the growth of acid-loving bacteria.
Another reason people tend to use ACV (with the "mother") is that they believe it contains probiotics that are good for gut health. By the time the vinegarization process is complete, there are very few 'good' bacteria left alive, and any that are, are destroyed by the digestive process. If you're wanting to give probiotics to your birds, there are good ones specially formulated with massive numbers of live culture, to make sure some make it to the intestines still kicking. Any feed store or TSC should have livestock probiotics, and even acidophilus capsules for people are better choices than ACV to my mind.
Also, WLLady may be on to something...Peach may be glutting herself on new grass tips, and not eating enough layer feed. There aren't a lot of bugs out yet to make sure the birds get enough protein, and I know mine right now are like kids in a candy store with all the new green. Unfortunately, chickens aren't vegetarians, so if they fill up on grass and weeds, and not much else, they'll drop weight.
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Re: My beloved Peach is losing weight
I think you might be right about the spring foraging. Her crop is always full in the evenings. She's quite normal and laying almost daily. I will toss out some cat food. It can't hurt! I hate to separate and cage her cause she doesn't really seem off...just thin.
I'm so glad I found this site! WindwalkingWolf and WLLady....you are both a wealth of information. I appreciate your incite...
I'm so glad I found this site! WindwalkingWolf and WLLady....you are both a wealth of information. I appreciate your incite...
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