Small Bird in the Flock

[lisamayc]

I'm on my second go around on cornish xs. The first time was easy, and I was very happy with the results. This time I'm raising 30 meaties and have noticed that one of the birds is growing much slower that the other. Currently it is maybe 1/3-1/2 the size of the other birds. At first, I thought it was having trouble competing for food, so I added additional feeders and waterers. But I watched its behavior over the last couple of days and notice it doesn't have the glutonous behavior of the other birds. Any thoughts? Genetics?

 

[itsy]

Could it be a different breed? Leghorn?

I ended up pardoning one of my Red Broilers because she was a fraction of the size of the other birds. I'm keeping her as a pet/layer. She's still larger than my normal laying birds, but she's much smaller than a normal meatie.

 

[WishboneDawn]

We had one that grew much slower then the others. It finally died at about 6-7 weeks. It had a problems with it's vent and probably additional internal problems we couldn't see. It may be yours just doesn't have the drive to eat that the others do or it could be there's an internal issue hampering it's growth.