1 chick is not developing as fast as the others the same age.

[TheGourleyManor]

I am may be seeing something that is not even there, but I am not yet truly worried, but I am questioning the development of one of the chicks we are raising.

They are all different breeds (Dominique, Dark Cornish, Golden Buff, Light Brahma and a mystery chick - maybe white leghorn) with the same hatch date. I bought them as day old chicks. They had vaccines at the hatchery before we got them and are eating non-medicated starter. They are under a heat lamp (only part of their brooder, kept about 80-85 at this age) and have adequate food and clean water all the time. They have pine as bedding and a low perch (that they all love). They are on a sun porch that gets morning sunlight.

The other chicks in the brooder are all growing bigger and really feathering out nicely. However, this one chick is staying much smaller and barely showing a few feathers at the end of her wings, that is it. And these feathers to me, look a bit scrawny compared to the feathers of the other 4. They even seem to have a slight curl at the end. The rest of her is still just a fluff ball of down. She is active (but maybe not AS active as the other 4), she eats, drinks, poops (and it looks just like all the others poop - what I would call normal) and sleeps. Her abdomen seems a little rounded to me, but I am comparing it to the other bigger chicks so that might not be a fair judgement. I did feel around it and it feels nice and soft. Her vent is open and functioning. I am not seeing ANY evidence of bullying or pecking by the other chicks. No one is pushing her away from her food or water or even off the roosting bar. She does NOT like being held, she just squawks and flaps her wings until you put her back.

There is nothing other than her size and lack of feathers that I can put my finger on, something just seems a little "off". Maybe it is just her breed is a slower developer than the other 4? We don't really know which one is which, but we thought through the process of elimination of the others that she may be a Light Brahma?



I tried to post a couple pictures of her compared to her brooder-mates, but I can't see a way to do it.

 

[azygous]

They used to called them "runts" back in the old days. Now they call these tiny chicks that don't want to grow "failure-to-thrive". It's good news she's eating and is active. Usually these chicks turn sickly and lose what little appetite they had, and that weakens them further,

A common cause for this condition is genetic abnormalities - perhaps underdeveloped innards. You can give the chick a much needed boost by giving it Poultry Nutri-drench, a supplement formulated for chickens that is absorbed directly into the blood stream. This by-passes the liver which may be only partially functioning. This should assist it in getting more nutrition out of the food it eats.

If it doesn't seem to be eating its crumbles, try minced boiled egg or tofu.

 

[TheGourleyManor]

Thanks. I will run to Tractor Supply tomorrow and pick some up. My 6 year old is not going to be pleased, if she doesn't survive. That one is his. Last year we got some chicks and one of them died within hours of bringing them home and it was "his" also.

We will try whatever we can to help this little girl, we're kind of fond of all our feathered friends. So, if there are any other suggestions, I would love to hear them.

 

[Chickening101]

Maybe that chick is ill. Check her out.

 

[3riverschick]

Could this be a slow Feathering bantam ? have you got a bantam chicken ?
Best,
Karen

 

[TheGourleyManor]

We did not order any bantams. We do have one mystery chick that was given free with our order, but I am real sure we figured out the mystery chick.

I was worried about her being ill and did check her out to the best of my ability, which was why I posted all the details I know here......hoping someone had a thought that I didn't think to check. Other than her slow development and slightly less activity than the brooder-mates, I really don't see any other signs of illness. If I missed checking for something, please let me know. I am relatively new to chicken keeping, only having a few years experience, but don't have much experience with problems. Other than loosing one a few hours after we brought her home last year, I don't have any deaths/illnesses that weren't due to predators and that has only been twice the first year.

 

[Everly]

One of my buff Orpingtons is the same way, still has a fluff butt and small Wings whereas the other ones are developing tail feathers and their wing feathers are getting longer. Other than that she seems completely normal; active eating and drinking as well as normal poo. I wonder what's going on

 

[SylvarGrl]

We did not order any bantams. We do have one mystery chick that was given free with our order, but I am real sure we figured out the mystery chick.

I was worried about her being ill and did check her out to the best of my ability, which was why I posted all the details I know here......hoping someone had a thought that I didn't think to check. Other than her slow development and slightly less activity than the brooder-mates, I really don't see any other signs of illness. If I missed checking for something, please let me know. I am relatively new to chicken keeping, only having a few years experience, but don't have much experience with problems. Other than loosing one a few hours after we brought her home last year, I don't have any deaths/illnesses that weren't due to predators and that has only been twice the first year.

One of my ISA Browns was like this. She’s still significantly smaller than her sisters, but bosses them all around, lays more eggs, and has the biggest, reddest comb.