Runt ? - Pics

I bet most of you think that this chick is about 1 - 2 weeks old. It is actually a bit older... It is about 7 weeks old! It is supposed to be a large fowl black sex link. Since it looks more like a barred rock I suspect that this is a 2nd generation chick (probably both parents were black sex links). The size is what is crazy. It is so small.

I am saying "breeder" with quotes because I have since decided that he is a propagator instead. I talked to him about this chick a few weeks ago. He did not have much to say other than that he has no bantams on his farm. I am no longer talking to him. I had about 3/4 of the chicks I got from him die. I picked them up in person (he is local). I did notice that his brooders were much cooler than mine. I bet they were not more than 75 degrees and this was for chicks that were only a couple of days old. The chicks were huddled tightly under the single heat lamp in each brooder. I could go on about my observations of his setup.... F.Y.I. - I only lost one chick out of 20+ that I got from feed stores and I know exactly what caused it. A larger bird stepped on it (I separated them by size shortly after that.)

Has anyone experienced a bird that stayed small like this? Will it ever grow? Any ideas what will happen to it?

All of the others have moved out to the coop. This one I moved from the garage brooder into a small brooder in the house. (I shutdown the large brooder in the garage yesterday.)

I am not sure maybe just needs some more time cute little guy/girl. hopefully some one with some more knowledge will post something good luck hope this one makes it.

Looks like a BR cockerel I once had. I got an order of 10 bantam cochins from Ideal, and they stuck in 15 BR packing peanuts. One died en route, so I ended up with 14 BR cockerels. I had them in a separate brooder from the bantams, since I didn't want to get attached to the peanuts. We planned to eat them. All were kept warm and well fed, but one BR just didn't grow. It didn't feather out like the rest. At a couple of weeks old, it was as small as the bantam cochins still, and before long they passed him up. He still looked like a week-old baby when the bantams were nearly feathered out, and the other BR's were WAY past them all.

Anyway, long story short... I put him in with the cochins so I could make sure he was eating okay. He was. At ten weeks old, in the middle of December, I moved them out to the grow-out house. He was still tiny. By 17 weeks, when we butchered, I could no longer tell him from the rest. He grew big and strong, and tasted great!

Here he is with two bantams. They are all 3.5 weeks old in this pic:

We have 'runts' too but I prefer to call them 'micro-chicks'.

Here's a post I made a few weeks backs out our micro-chick 'Sadly' - https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=340337

We've got another one now as well, called 'Lumpy' but he is the victim of a birth defect. He has a lump on the right side of his head, since birth, which oozes clear fluid every now and then when it gets too big. He is 11 weeks old and is the size of a 4 week old chick. I'll get a picture of him and add it to my previous post when I can. All the other chicks from all families pack at his lump so he has become a 'house chicken'. Much to my daughters delight and my dismay !!!

We have kind of specialised in runts here, runt dog, several runt chicks and a runt lamb who has outgrown his contemporaries and now is our breeding ram! So I think the message is, they can sometimes end up average or above average in size given time........and what a cutie your little black chick is!

Sandie

We moved this chick into the house a couple of days ago. It is in a clear plastic tote brooder by herself. We have two Netherlands dwarf bunnies in cages next her. And the aquarium is right next to her with it's constant bubbling sound. It is also the highest traffic spot in our house. Does anyone think she will die of loneliness? We talk to her frequently and she is getting held several times a day. We don't want to keep buying new chicks every three weeks to keep her company. We did bring in our smallest chick this evening to give her some company for awhile. This chick is more than twice her size. It is a very mellow chick and just sat there quietly for awhile. (These two chicks were together in the garage brooder for a few weeks until a couple of days ago.) We did not notice any difference in her behavior and so we have no idea if she liked the company or not. I will probably bring the EE in again tomorrow for another visit.

Wow, your mini-chick looks just like my Cuckoo Marans color-wise. I also have a 'runt' Australorp but it seems to have issues with eating so I am feeding it all sorts of wet food - it seems to really go for it as do my other girls! I am hoping it will just live, don't really mind about the size. I got it at 2 weeks old, a week after the others (but it was from the same batch of pullets at the feed store) and it had the most enormous wings compared to its body which was like a ping pong ball. 2 weeks later, its body is finally catching up with those wings! Good luck with your little chick!

My SS was super small as well. Everyone said she was a bantam, but she came from a standard set of chicks. My SS is finally catching up on her growth at three months. She just had a growth spurt a couple days ago and is very healthy. I'm assuming my SS is going to be very small, but not quite bantam size.

They are from the same hatch.

I have two runts at the moment. It seems like they get stuck in the 1.45-2 week stage. They're both healthy and keeping up, it just takes them a little big more work to stay warm and get around.