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

[micstrachan]

Oh, I was wondering about failure to thrive, but was under the impression this term is only used for very young chicks. Not sure why I thought that.

 

[Esjay600]

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.

Thank you for your advice. I've attached the original picture, plus another that I thought might help? These are both from yesterday. She/he is the one on the far right, I took a photo of them all for size comparison.

 

[Esjay600]

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.

Thank you!

 

[rebrascora]

Make sure it has had no access to food when you check it's crop in the morning.
Looking at that second photo I think I am seeing a bloated abdomen.... the fluffy bit sticking out behind it's leg is more rounded than I would expect on a chick that is struggling to grow and put weight on elsewhere. That might be something else to check. Compare to the others. The abdomen there is not usually rounded like that.
My gut feeling is that this chick has a developmental issue, probably intestinal .... maybe a hernia, which is preventing it from gaining the nutrition from it's food that it should. Unfortunately I don't think it will have a long life. I think it may be backing up with waste material due to a constriction of the gut and that will make it's crop slow...... basically, I'm agreeing with anzygous.... I also think it may be a cockerel but slower to develop that red comb due to this issue.
I would be interested to see a better shot of the bird that has it's head turned away, showing it's comb, as you may have 3/3 males.

 

[rebrascora]

The chick in question also looks like it is getting a cist or abscess on it's right wing.

 

[Esjay600]

The chick in question also looks like it is getting a cist or abscess on it's right wing.

Thank you for all your advice. I'm going to try to get a better picture of him.

I can see where you think the abscess is, but thankfully that's just the point of his wing shoulder where there is no fluff or feathers (he's missing them on both sides, I think the light just caught it in the picture).

I agree that he is likely a cockerel; his comb and wattle are more prominent than his sisters (the one with black feathers) even though he is underdeveloped. She has almost no comb or wattle.

I will update everyone regarding the crop. I'd be very sad to see it was a developmental issue that I couldn't address.

 

[Esjay600]

The semi good news is, is that I finally got a picture of his poop. For a while there I couldn't figure out if every time I went out to observe he didn't need to go, or if he was maybe constipated. It was small, and I'm not sure if it was particularly informative, but he does poop.

 

[Esjay600]

Hi BYCers!


I just wanted to say a big thank you to all of you for your advice! Raising chickens for the first time can be daunting, and you've all been so helpful. I truly appreciate it.

Lucky is improving, with the fluff and feathers on his back visibly developing.


Thank you again.

 

[rebrascora]

Good to hear he is improving. I very much hope he continues to make good progress.