Runt chicken?

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roverjohn

roverjohn

Chirping
9 Years
Apr 7, 2010
118
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Is there such a thing? I have three BR's in my flock. About 2.5 weeks old. One of them doesn't seem to be growing. She's(I hope) getting her feathers at about the same rate as her cousins but she's much smaller. I let the temp in the brooder room get down to 64f about a week ago. The rest of the girls seemed to handle it but the small one was on her side just kinda kicking meekly when I went to check on them. I picked her up and warmed her in my hands and since then she's been fine as the room is now 80f at the floor. She seems to spend more time eating than the other birds so maybe she's just not as good at getting the food into herself. It's also shocking how much bigger my Black Sex Link is compared to even the largest BR but I'm really not worried about one that's growing well. She looks like a little crow.

I wouldn't cull her, of course, but a bantam BR probably wouldn't make a whole lot of scrambled eggs if you know what I mean.
 
I have an Ameracauna like this. She started out at 1 day the same size as everyone else, but now she is still the same size and they are much bigger (they're 10 days now). She eats, drinks, and poops, so I don't know what to do for her. I guess I'll just wait and see.

Does anyone know about this?
 
There is always some variation in size, and most smaller chicks do OK. But, I had a small Polish - she acted fine, but was only half the size of her hatchmates. She only made it to four weeks. Failure to thrive, I guess.
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I have a black sex link that is not growing much either. She is about 4 weeks old now. The younger chicks (2 weeks old) in the brooder are about twice her size. We keep wondering if she is going to be a bantam or what is going to happen. I also have some concerns about "her" coloring. She seems to be getting more and more white on her. I am starting to wonder if she is actually a bantam he.

The breeder I got it from says he has no bantams. I would not be surprised if this chick eventually does not make it. I have already decided I will not do business with this local breeder in the future. I got 15 chicks from him and lost 8. I did not lose any chicks that I got from other sources. The loses included 3 of 4 BLRW. I am espicailly sad about these. I have no idea what they died. I feel that his brooders were too cold and they were also located in a drafty area. The chicks were hudled tightly under the heat lamps.
 
I have a BR that is definitely smaller that chick-mates. I keep moving her to younger brooders, I have 4 different ages. Hopefully she is ok and I hope yours is just a runt too. Runts can be the best,,, huh? sending growing vibes
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I think it happens in a lot of different animals. I had a cat once that was small. When I found it, I thought it was 5-6 weeks old. The vet told me he was over 6 months old. It never grew bigger. Sadly, it had health issues and I had to have him put down.
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However, a lot of them do just fine. If the little chick is eating , drinking, etc ok, I would not worry about it.
 
I have a runt too. I expect to find him dead everytime I look in the brooder, but he seems to be doing alright so far. He is a week old today.
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I'm not sure what color he is. Any ideas?
 
I agree that it is a very high loss rate, even if they had been shipped in the mail. The chicks I lost were picked in person from a local breeder on two different days. Some of chicks I got from him are doing great.
 
I have six 2 1/2 week old chicks of varying breeds. One started out as the most vigorous, quick, etc. In the last day, the others have seemed to have a growth spurt, and she has not. I hope she'll catch up, because she seems a lot smaller. I was wondering about that. She still seems perky and is eating and drinking... just not growing as much.
 

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