4.5 week old chick not growing **now with pics** ((Updated))

[mermaidgoat]

*****Updated - see post #24*****

I have 11 chicks, all 4.5 weeks old. 1 isn't growing, and is still about the size of a 2 week old chick, but has her wing feathers in. The other chicks are all more than twice her size and generally have more mature feathering. She still has the fluffy head and stripes on her back of an infant.

She is one of 5 RIR or RSL chicks.

The little chick seems normal in every other way, except she seems to sleep more. They are getting a little crowded in the brooder and we're working ferociously to get their coop finished to move them into more spacious accomodations. The little chick gets stepped on a lot. I've been watching her and she seems to be eating and drinking. I've been taking her out of the brooder at least twice a day to hand feed and water her to make sure her size isn't keeping her from proper nutrition.

She had watery greenish/clear poop today.

Any suggestions or advice? I coul post pics if that would be helpful.

 

[mermaidgoat]

I want to add that sometimes she appears to lose her balance and sometimes she appears to have trouble folding her wings back.

 

[backyardigans]

We had a bantam cochin that was at that age half the size of her peers. She always remained a little smaller than others but mostly caught up at the age of 6 months and she started actually laying earlier than our other bantams. However, I don't remember her sleeping more or losing balance, but she did get her feathering slower than others did. She was always the feisty one, ready to challenge everybody. She recently died suddenly at the age of 9 months due to an inverted uterus.

 

[mermaidgoat]

Quote:
Well, she's not supposed to be a bantam, but I guess anything's possible. She was the same size as all the others until a couple of weeks ago when she appeared to stop growing.

I started her on Poly Vi Sol last night.

 

[CheepSunglasses]

We have one like that. When he was a day old, he was taken to a Poultry Swap and we don't know if this slowed him down or if it was something else. At the moment, we are fighting a respiratory infection in this batch of chicks. Oddly enough, of the three chicks that came down with it, he is the only one who has fought it off, even though he is about half the size of the others at 3 weeks old. So size by itself doesn't mean that much.

 

[Salem Witch]

I'm a friend of Molly's, and have seen little Songbird... she is the sweetest thing. I almost wondered if she was a banty mixed in, she is so much smaller than the other chicks, but otherwise seems healthy, and alert. I did notice that she sometimes seems to have trouble folding her wings in, but other than that, she seemed very alert.

Other than the vitamins, does anyone have any advice for helping her gain strength/size?

Molly, you should post a photo of little Songbird!

 

[sandy sea]

I had a little chick like that, sorry to say it did not make it. It first it was the same size as the other chicks , but as the others started to develop and grow it just stayed the same. I was also wondering if it was a bantam not a standard. It just did not grow, died about a month later.

 

[mermaidgoat]

Here are some pictures:

In the brooder:

It's not just the angle - the Easter Egger really is that much bigger!

Here she is perched on the feeder next to our white EE:

Finally outside!

And because of her small size, and the cramped conditions in the brooder, I took her out a few times a day while I was on the computer and let her hang out next to me and eat while I worked...

A couple closeups:

(The food is stuck to her beak because I'd just given her her PolyViSol vitamins)

 

[Lolliegee]

What a cutie. I sure hope she makes it.

Unfortunately, I don't have any advice for you, haven't had this particular issue, but I'll be anxiously waiting to see what happens with her. Good luck!

 

[kyeschicks]

It sucks when all of your chicks are like that