I have eight, three month old keets, and they are all doing well, apart from one, he is half the size of the others! He eats really well, gets plenty of protein, fresh veg, grass, and is really feisty, but is just really small. Why is that? Any help or thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated.
Well, could be a pituitary problem, or thyroid, something hormonal/endocrine system based that's gone wrong or is deficient. For a while last year, there were many threads on BYC about chicks not growing. They were remaining as chicks even at 6 months and over. Naturally they didn't last much longer, that's a serious fault; many had even remained in down, improperly feathered. That's the negative theory I guess... But there's a slight possibility your little fella is a bantam, a dwarf for whatever reason. Perhaps heritable and non fatal, but who knows yet? I haven't heard of bantam or dwarf guineas but there's that sort of genetic capacity in everything, so wouldn't be surprised if sooner or later it is found in them too. It sure is tiny. Best wishes.
Thanks so much for the great info! I had a few chicks that wouldn't grow last year, but after a few months, and some TLC, they sprouted up! The hormonal/endocrine system based problem sounds like it for this keet, though, he has a brother that is also small, not at all as small as this guy. They are the only ones of their color, so they are from the same parents, it could be some short of dwarfism, that would be interesting.
That sounds like you've found a likely pattern there. Some breed types or color types are known to be linked to dwarfism in chooks etc, if you regularly get runts of a certain color then you may have something similar. Might be worth discussing this with guinea breeders, there's a slight chance you could have something economically viable there if you can standardize the genetics responsible, provided they're not overly fatal (since when has that stopped dwarf breeds from being established, though?). At this rate sounds like a certain coloration is perhaps linked to a deficit in growth hormone or something like that, but then it all balances out. (Around puberty?) Best wishes.
I'll look into that, as long as the dwarfism isn't fatal, (I'd hate to breed dwarf Guineas just for them to die.) it could be an interesting experiment, and possible profitable if successful. If this little guy stays small, and if it doesn't die, I'll contact the breeder I bought that color from, see if I can re-create the same results. I'm crossing my fingers! That makes sense about the birds growing at 'puberty', I'll look into that too. Thanks again, I'll keep the thread updated on his progress.