3,5 month old chick stopped growing and now is really weak (w/ pictures)

Hi everybody... I really need your help: I have a 3,5 month old chick and have no idea what's wrong with her. I've been reading about illness and nothing seems to match her sympthoms. She es weak, eating and drinking, but she lays all day long. Her legs feel kind of weak too, it's like she has no strength at all.

What worries me the most is that it seems like she stopped growing when she was two months old. I live in Chile, so I don't know what the real name of its breed is, but we call it "Gallina de la Pasion" or "Passion Chick", they are really small.

Here are some pictures...


there she was about 3 weeks old, with her proud owner (my 3 year old daugther)


Here, she is about 1,5 months old...


Almost 2 months...



I just took this last one, about the same size as a month ago. Her eyelids seem kind of swollen, but that's it. I can't think of anything, I don't know what to do!! We have really fallen in love with her, we live in an apartment and I am building a wonderfool coop for her to live in. For now, she has a big cage with bedding, a little bit of sand, some sticks for her to stand on and two wooden stories for her to climb (where she used to come up to whenever we came around).

I've been looking at pictures of chicks at that age and they all seem a lot bigger and more developed than she is. I really hope I can do something for her to be the one she was a month ago

Any ideas?

Where did she come from? Has she been exposed to other birds? Has she been outside at all?

First and foremost- chickens are flock animals. It is a terrible idea to keep them as a single pet. They need their own kind. And when I say "need" I really mean it. Single birds pine for their own species.

Once we figure out what is going on with this little one, you are going to need to get at least one other bird of the same age.

Edit- Where are my manners? Welcome to BYC.

Thanks for your reply... on my behalf, I must tell you that we've been searching for a little sister for three months, and haven't been able to find one. It's not that easy as we don't have those pro hatcheries I've seen in the US. In fact, this weekend I went for the 10th time i think, to the place I found this little girl and they didn't have one...

About the exposure, she's not been near any other birds, nor has she been outside, but when I bought her, she lived in a little cage with other baby chicks who were different breeds. It's like a fair, so I don't know if she's gotten any vaccines or anything, so I fear the worst.

Judging by the eyes and the failure to thrive, I am thinking she has a respiratory infection. Are the eyes gunky? Any sneezing, coughing, wheezing, discharge from eyes or nose? How do her poops look? Is she eating chicken feed?

Do you have access to Tylan? Can she go to a vet?

Her eyes don't look gunky at all, and I wouldn't say she's sneezing, coughing, etc. Her poop looks normal acording to what i see and what i've seen through this months. She's eating smashed corn, that's what she has been eating for a while.

The first few weeks we added some vitamins to her water but stopped a while ago.

I think there's Tylan here, under a different name of course.

Do you think it could be respiratory? In that case, could it be the cause of her growth stopping?

She is eating smashed corn? That's part of your problem. She needs to be eating chick crumble/poultry feed. Corn is like candy. Chickens love it, but it has little nutritional value.

Once you get her some proper nutrition, you will likely see a world of difference in her. I would hold off on anything else until after that.

CMV, thank you very much for your replies and concern. I really apreciate it, honestly.

Any suggestions on what to feed her until I find the proper food? Is there any thread where I can find a recipe or sth like that?

Feeding and Watering your Flock is one of the areas in the forum. You can check over there for some tips. She NEEDS to be on poultry feed, though. ASAP. That is likely why you are seeing these issues. If you have those vitamins still, then add a bit to her water. Do not use too much, though, or you risk giving her diarrhea.