- Mar 27, 2014
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I have a little different situation but relating story. I have 4 that are 9 weeks old, 2 Easter Eggers and 2 Brahmas. Now EE's are supposed to be smaller birds and Brahmas are supposed to be great big birds that take awhile to mature and reach full growth. One of my Brahmas is a rooster, he is huge for 9 weeks, literally almost as big as my smallest full size Production Red hen. One of the EE's is very close behind him in size. The female Brahma is tiny, she eats, drinks, is healthy but is the smallest of the 4 and I did notice she was just not a big eater. I have been feeding them the usual chick mash starter feed that is all ground up fine. I also give them a treat of fodder
(sprouted pasture seed in my case) most days. I noticed that she was way more quick to take to the fodder treat and is desperate for it. I finally got sick of them wasting so much feed on the floor of the brooder and the other day switched to the starter crumbles instead of the powdery chick starter. It is a different color, deeper green, has more of an earthy smell than the sweet chick mash. She has been gorging herself for 3 days on the stuff. I think she just didn't care for the chick feed. I didn't weigh her prior but just over 3 days I can no longer feel her bones when I pick her up and she actually feels like a real chicken now and I notice the gap in size between her and the other smaller EE is much less all of a sudden.
I am not saying this is the case with yours, you may have a mix or a bantam that will always be tiny but it may be that she will sprout quick at some point too.
(sprouted pasture seed in my case) most days. I noticed that she was way more quick to take to the fodder treat and is desperate for it. I finally got sick of them wasting so much feed on the floor of the brooder and the other day switched to the starter crumbles instead of the powdery chick starter. It is a different color, deeper green, has more of an earthy smell than the sweet chick mash. She has been gorging herself for 3 days on the stuff. I think she just didn't care for the chick feed. I didn't weigh her prior but just over 3 days I can no longer feel her bones when I pick her up and she actually feels like a real chicken now and I notice the gap in size between her and the other smaller EE is much less all of a sudden.
I am not saying this is the case with yours, you may have a mix or a bantam that will always be tiny but it may be that she will sprout quick at some point too.