Broiler runt??

[jaj121159]

It looks like a two week old CX to me. I would let it grow, it's not going to cost you anything in feed. Sometimes the hatchery gets some bad eggs and the birds don't develop well. I have had many that were small (not that far behind in feathering) and didn't develop until 10 to 16 weeks.

 

[lisaequine1]

It looks like a two week old CX to me. I would let it grow, it's not going to cost you anything in feed. Sometimes the hatchery gets some bad eggs and the birds don't develop well. I have had many that were small (not that far behind in feathering) and didn't develop until 10 to 16 weeks.

I think that you are right. I've actually got about six that are way smaller than the rest. If you lined them up it would almost be like a set a stairs, all different sizes. They do seem like they are starting to pick up the pace some now at six weeks old but are still so far behind.

Did yours get up to good weights like the others?

 

[lisaequine1]

Mine is 7 weeks old and about a sixth of the size of the birds that have gained normally.  I've read about runts in Salatin's "Pastured Poultry..." and he thought they were just small because they were from pullet eggs or birds that were too old--called them quail sized.  My dad said he thinks these birds ended up with dominant cornish genes(?)

So then they are more like the slow growing Cornish...........makes sense that some would come out that way. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how the little ones turn out.

 

[lisaequine1]

It's hard to say whether that's a CX or not. I've sometimes gotten a chick that I refer to as an FTT [failure to thrive] chick, both in CX that I've ordered and from chicks that I've hatched. If they even live past a week of age, they grow and feather very slowly, and usually die before reaching processing size from a stress the others took in stride. I recently lost a White Ameraucana chick that had, I thought, turned the corner and was starting to look more like a normal chick. It didn't make it through one of the recent days of 100 + degree days.  

So far so good, we're at six+ weeks now and the runts are still seemingly healthy and very active. This is the most active bunch of cx I've had yet and have lost two so far, one to a hawk and one to an accident. There was one in my last batch that never did feather out, he grew just fine, just never got many feathers. Thanks for the reply!

 

[MJFarm12]

Well, ours have all made it through a few weeks of horrid heat. I decided to separate out the smallest hens to another pen to see if they would gain a bit better without the competition of the bigger more aggressive birds. The runt is with 6 or 7 other hens now, so it remains to be seen.

 

[MJFarm12]

Our runt ended up growing as big as a Plymouth Rock, I believe. Or, as big as any of the Cornish Crosses can get. I guess she was just a late bloomer.

 

[lisaequine1]

Our runt also was just a late (really late) bloomer. Turned out to be 13 pounds at about 18 weeks old and very tasty.

 

[MJFarm12]

We have a runt turkey now, too. I am wondering if it is just "special needs". I have noticed that sometimes birds don't act quite like the others. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it, just not as persistent to eat. It goes off by itself a lot.