5 week old chick is the size of a 2 week old chick.

[HotChicken623]

Hi, everyone!

Hope you're all having a wonderful day! I've just got a couple questions on a under developing chick and wondering if anyone else has experienced the same.

I had bought 4, day old chicks and have had them for 5 1/2 weeks now. My original plan was to give them all to my broody hen, but she rejected the gray chick pictured. I didn't want the gray one to be alone, so I took 1 of the salmon faverolles away from the broody and put it in the brooder with the gray. Now the chick in question is the other faverolle pictured with the broody and brown easter egger chick. All chicks are the same age and all of these photos were taken the same day. I wanted to post them for comparison. The 2 that were raised in the brooder are much larger than the 2 that were raised with the hen. Makes sense, they sat and ate in a brooder all day until they were moved to the coop. The chicks with broody run around all day and scratch and pick at whatever she does. I never seperated them from the flock so those 3 are all integrated. The chicks are fed chick starter and are able to get to it without being bothered by hens. The faverolle with the broody is SO tiny still. No tail feathers and is still completely down feathered on her tummy and behind. She only has wing feathers and a couple feathers on her back. Where there should be feathers it just looks like tiny pins coming in, but no growth. She looks a lot bigger in the photo because she's in front, but she really only looks about 2 weeks in person and is still a lot smaller than the brown. Gets around fine, just so far behind the others in development. Has anyone else had this happen to them? The chicks I've had have all grown at the same relative pace.

Another pick of slow growing chick at 5 weeks.

 

[HotChicken623]

Update on chick at 3.5 months.

Well, she looks so much better now! Still smaller than the other Salmon Faverolle and tends to be a loner, but glad she’s still alive and kickin.

 

[RosemaryDuck]

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Hi, everyone!

Hope you're all having a wonderful day! I've just got a couple questions on a under developing chick and wondering if anyone else has experienced the same.

I had bought 4, day old chicks and have had them for 5 1/2 weeks now. My original plan was to give them all to my broody hen, but she rejected the gray chick pictured. I didn't want the gray one to be alone, so I took 1 of the salmon faverolles away from the broody and put it in the brooder with the gray. Now the chick in question is the other faverolle pictured with the broody and brown easter egger chick. All chicks are the same age and all of these photos were taken the same day. I wanted to post them for comparison. The 2 that were raised in the brooder are much larger than the 2 that were raised with the hen. Makes sense, they sat and ate in a brooder all day until they were moved to the coop. The chicks with broody run around all day and scratch and pick at whatever she does. I never seperated them from the flock so those 3 are all integrated. The chicks are fed chick starter and are able to get to it without being bothered by hens. The faverolle with the broody is SO tiny still. No tail feathers and is still completely down feathered on her tummy and behind. She only has wing feathers and a couple feathers on her back. Where there should be feathers it just looks like tiny pins coming in, but no growth. She looks a lot bigger in the photo because she's in front, but she really only looks about 2 weeks in person and is still a lot smaller than the brown. Gets around fine, just so far behind the others in development. Has anyone else had this happen to them? The chicks I've had have all grown at the same relative pace.

View attachment 2589901
Another pick of slow growing chick at 5 weeks.

Wow. Maybe a case of dwarfism? I know it can happen to ducks. Have you been able to feel her to see if she's a good weight? She looks very healthy besides the obvious fact of looking like she just hatched! That is so odd. Let me tag a few others here to see if they have any advice.

@Eggcessive
@sourland

 

[NatJ]

There is a gene called "slow feathering," because it makes chickens grow their feathers much more slowly than normal. I think your chick probably has it. It's not harmful, just makes them look immature until the feathers finally show up.

 

[NatJ]

The chick in question is a completely different breed... are the others brahmas or Cochins?

I think the four chicks and their situations are:
1 gray chick, raised in brooder, large
1 Faverolles chick, raised in brooder, large
1 Easter Egger chick (brown striped), raised by hen, not as large
1 Faverolles chick, raised by hen, small and very slow to grow feathers

The ones with feathered feet are the 2 Faverolles. So the question was why one Faverolles is so much slower to get feathers than the other, and why it is also the smallest of the four chicks.

@HotChicken623 do I have that correct?

And when you describe them as larger or smaller, are you talking about what size they look to be, or how heavy they are? If it's weight, are you comparing them in your hand, or weighing them on a scale? I've had chicks that looked "small" but were heavier than "large" chicks, and the real difference was in how fluffy their feathers were

 

[HotChicken623]

She seems to be growing and has made it to ten weeks so maybe she’s catching up?

She definitely is growing, just very slowly. lol. Her feathers come in soooo slow. The back of her neck still isn’t feathered and her legs have just started. I’ll update again in a week or so!!

 

[HotChicken623]

I think the four chicks and their situations are:
1 gray chick, raised in brooder, large
1 Faverolles chick, raised in brooder, large
1 Easter Egger chick (brown striped), raised by hen, not as large
1 Faverolles chick, raised by hen, small and very slow to grow feathers

The ones with feathered feet are the 2 Faverolles. So the question was why one Faverolles is so much slower to get feathers than the other, and why it is also the smallest of the four chicks.

@HotChicken623 do I have that correct?

And when you describe them as larger or smaller, are you talking about what size they look to be, or how heavy they are? If it's weight, are you comparing them in your hand, or weighing them on a scale? I've had chicks that looked "small" but were heavier than "large" chicks, and the real difference was in how fluffy their feathers were

Yes, all of that is correct! She's definitely smaller by weight also. Much smaller and lighter in weight than the others. She seems to still be completely fine other than that.

 

[HotChicken623]

Maybe some vetiricyn spray would help her irritation. Amazon sells this brand.

Thanks for the suggestion! I have some on hand, but didn't think to try to use it for this. Can't hurt! I'll spray some on tomorrow.

 

[HotChicken623]

It looks like she may have mites. Part the feathers to check. It there is a lot of dirt looking dots, she has mites.

I checked for mites and didn't see any signs of any. I sprayed her with Vetricyn a few times, applied bag balm to her legs and dry skin and also gave her a couple drops of Nutridrench in her mouth and also dosed her water. She seems to be doing a lot better! Skin looks normal and I see a lot of feather growth! I'll post a photo of her soon. Thank you all so much for all of your help!

 

[HotChicken623]

Pics? How is she doing?

Here’s a 10 week update on the slow growing chick. Still much smaller than the others and no tail feathers, but still seems to be doing well, other than being small.

Feather growth still isn’t very pretty, but at least she has feathers!

Photo of other salmon Faverolle, taken in the same day. They are the same age.