10 week old chicken - barely growing - only wing feathers.

[drumstick diva]

Maybe she has worms, although I would think she'd pass some in her poo.

 

[rjohns39]

can you get a good picture of her poop? Sometimes they're just slow and grow out of it. We'll hope that's the case here I'd also suggest dropping off all treats, and adding the starter in with the grower. When you give them egg, I'd also add a couple three tablespoons of canned salmon.

 

[JurassicBawk]

Just so you don't lose all hope, I wanted to let you know that I've got a dwarf bantam that is 1/2 the size of her hatch mate sister, and despite being tiny and looking months younger is currently doing well. She's over 5 months old and just now got to 10 ounces. Yours may be a runt or a dwarf, or just a slow grower. Eliminate possible issues then just do the best you can with her. Good luck.

 

[rebrascora]

Can you be sure that they were all bred from the same parents? A broody hen will hatch chicks from other hens' eggs and if there is more than one rooster in the flock, it is possible that they have different fathers even if the mother is the same. One parent could even have been a bantam. That said, the bird should be well feathered at 10 weeks and clearly it is not.
You are correct that you have at least one cockerel and if the other larger chick also has a red comb to go with those thick shanks and big feet, then probably two, so this unthrifty chick might be your only pullet.
Do you know anything about their breeding? What chickens does the person that bred them have?

 

[sourland]

I wonder if perhaps a bantam laid an egg in the mother hen's nest? Going by your pictures, the chick appears to be healthy. The white bird is a cockerel.

 

[Esjay600]

Hello everyone!


I haven't been able to answer each person directly, but I wanted to thank you all for your responses while I was away from the forum!

I regret that I didn't find out much information from the breeder. It was a friend of a friend, and in hindsight, I realise I did not ask enough questions.

I will take all of your advice with regards to feeding, and I will also go out their tomorrow morning and observe them, and check her poop (it's a bit dark outside now)!

Thank you for all the encouragement, and I will update you hopefully some progress.

 

[Esjay600]

Hello again everyone


I have been out sporadically watching Lucky today, and I can rule out bullying. I also don't believe its lice or mites. She seems free from scabs, lice or any sorts of unusual marks. I haven't been able to catch her pooping, but I did take a picture of her sisters to compare it to once I do! So, I can't rule out worms yet.

I have a suspicion she may have a crop problem. I am going to check her to see if she has a flat crop tomorrow morning. I looked this morning but I wasn't sure what I was looking for (I've only dealt with baby pigeon crops before). She has had an appetite and appears to be eating normally; she has quite a full crop at the moment. Again, I can't rule out worms either.

What sorts of remedies could I start now in case its an impacted or sour crop?


Edit - Also, are chickens still happy to feed if it's a crop problem? Or do they lose their appetite? All I can say, is that she's been eating today, and it's definitely increased in size, so there was some room in there at least.

 

[micstrachan]

I think in either case you're supposed to keep her off feed for a bit and only offer water (maybe supplemented with vitamins and electrolytes?) so her crop clears. I know... that sounds counterintuitive if she is starving. I hope someone else answers that question. There is also (careful, gentle) crop massage. I think if it's sour, probiotics are good, but I think I remember @azygous posting a specific treatment for sour crop. If it's impacted, grit is important. I forget... did we already talk about grit?
Sorry not to be of more help, but I am following you and this little sweetie and hope you are able to help her thrive.

 

[azygous]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned as a possibility as to why this chick appears to be stunted in its growth is that it has failure-to-thrive syndrome.

This basically is a chick that didn't have a full set of functioning equipment at hatch, and this hobbles it as it tries to process the nutrients in the food it eats, resulting in a very inefficient metabolism. These chicks don't keep up with the normal pace of chick growth, and seem to develop other secondary issues as well.

One of the issues is they seem to crave a heat source longer than the other chicks, having trouble staying warm, and they may feather out slowly, if at all. They are sometimes troubled with constipation and impacted crop. (rarely sour crop). This is often what kills them.

The things you can do for this chick are to get additional nutrients into its system (Poultry Nutri-drench) and try to alleviate it's constipation/crop issues with coconut oil, about one teaspoon should do it. The crop can be impacted and still feel soft, and if it has impacted crop, it likely is constipated, too. Offer plenty of water and only minced boiled egg or yogurt for a couple of days.

Some failure-to-thrive chicks make it, and grow up, but they may never be full size for their breed. They may never have a fully mature set of organs, and this can lead to a short life. Many are picked off by predators because they aren't as able to evade and flee as normal chickens are. He's made it this far, though, so he has every chance of making it with a little boost.

 

[azygous]

The chick in question looks like a cockerel to me, but could you re-post the photo and select "full size" for all images? We can then zoom in on all the details like its comb size and color.