Worried about a chick *Updated with photos*

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4H kids and mom

4H kids and mom

Cooped Up
12 Years
Mar 10, 2007
974
11
171
Southern Wisconsin
Alright. Here's the deal. We still have the 27 chicks. One is VERY VERY TINY compared to everyone else. I'm not just talking small, I mean TINY. She looks like a dwarf next to everyone else who are more than DOUBLE her size. She's the same size they all were about 3 weeks ago.

We've nick-named her Thumbalina, because she is just sooooo small. She seems to eat, drink, and poo ok. She is active, but sleeps more than everyone else and doesnt ever come outside when I open the coop door. She gets chilled easily (which is why I think she doesnt come out) and takes longer to warm back up than the others. She is fully feathered and her body seems fine, legs and feet are fine, beak and head are fine too. No pasty butt, or weird poops. She's just so gall-darn SMALL.

ChickenDuck (our biggest roo at almost 6 weeks) dwarfs her by being nearly triple her size. All the other pullets are at least double her size. Is she just "petite" or is she failing to thrive? Will she ever catch up, or will she eventually die from some problem that is keeping her small? The kids have already counted her out, and are withdrawing from her because they think she's going to die. Any ideas?
 
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You might have a bantam...As long as she's eating and drinking and pooping okay, she should be fine.
Bantams are so small compared to Standards. I have to look down to see where Penny is so I don't step on her.
Even if she is the "runt", I'd take even more care of her...but that's just me...
 
Alright. I'll tell the kids she's "supposed" to be small!
big_smile.png
The hatchery I ordered from said the breeder flock were all standard size, but maybe a bantam got in there somewhere...lol She's nothing fancy, just white with no color, but she's so cute cuz she's so tiny!
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Hi 4H,
You may want to check for pasty butt. Sometimes it is hard to see underneath all the fuzz. I had one growing slower and much smaller. Discovered she had pasty butt and after I soaker her rear and cleaned it off she started eating again. She quickly caught up with the others and I can barely tell which one she is.
Best wishes!
 
Here is a picture of her so you can see her size difference. Here she is pictured with ChickenDuck, our biggest roo:
Thumbalina2.jpg

You can see she is quite a bit smaller than him, and even the other chicks in the pic.

Here she is pictured with Daisy, our smallest pullet (besides Thumbalina!)
Thumbalina1.jpg

Even here you can really see a difference.

Do you think she is just small, or even a bantam, and I really shouldn't worry about her? Or is she doomed to lag behind, get picked on, or even waste away and die?
 
Is she plump in the breast/keel area, or is she all bony and thin? I would think that if she is just destined to be little but healthy, she'd still be nice and fleshy. If she is sick or not growing because she isn't healthy and just won't thrive, I suspect she'll feel all bony and fragile in the hand. I'd compare her body "feel" to the other chicks and try to think about it like that, instead of just raw size.

-MTchick
 
If Thumbelina is just small and seems to be doing OK with everyone else, just keep an eye on her and make sure she is getting her share of food and water.
It is possible she is just a bantam as has been suggested.
I can certainly see why you call her Thumbelina, she sure is small compared to the others!
 
She feels light as a feather (no pun intended lol) when you pick her up, like there's no real weight to her at all compared to, say ChickenDuck our heavy weight! He weighs a good 1.5 - 2 pounds roughly, where she is nowhere near a pound. I can easily feel her breastbone, but she doesn't otherwise feel "boney" to me. Twice today I went out and blocked others away from the feeder for her, but she wasn't interested in eating then. I've SEEN her eat, and poo, and her poo looks alright...I dont think she's sick, or at least not that I can tell. I checked her for the obvious things (nasal discharge, pasty bottom, icky poos, etc) and wasnt able to figure anything out. And the hatchery says they dont have bantams of her breed.....so is she just a fluke? Like a runt or something? She's not one of our friendlier pullets, but we're working with her. It'd be sad to loose any of them at this point with 6 weeks invested in their care and getting to know them all.
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I bought a bunch of chickies from the store and had two of the same breed, Blue Andalusians, one of them was growing really quick and the other was thin and tiny. She's light, but now she's a hen and she's still a bit smaller then the other Andalusian. But she lays eggs, and seems alright.
 

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