9 Week Old DWARF chick? PICS

[InLuvWLife]

I know chickens cannot be dwarf (can they??) but WOW! I have a 9 week old Brahma chick that stopped growing at about 3 weeks and has barely changed. It still has chick fuzz- only a few adult wing feathers. It is TINY next to its sibs. It eats well, behavior seems normal. All the other chicks are about half adult size and fully feathered. One roo has even begun to practice crowing! Does anyone know what is wrong with this chick? Any suggestions from you long time chicken whisperers??

 

[SunnySkyFarm]

My neighbor has a chick that is a slow grower, if you put her next to her sister who is the same age and came from the same hatch she is half the size. Maybe your chick is a bantam or just a slow grower.

 

[InLuvWLife]

What makes a chicken a bantam? I thought that was an intentional thing? Are some chickens just born bantam sized? This chick is 1/4 the size of the rest- I mean really small. I will try and get a pic

 

[Araucana16]

No... the chickens are specially bred to be bantam. It's possible that if you bought them from a hatchery or feed store, they put a chick or egg in the wrong bin.

 

[InLuvWLife]

That's what I thought- that bantams are bred to be small. I suppose the hatchery may have given me a banty!

 

[Araucana16]

Hey, feel lucky! Banties cost more than full sized, I think

 

[turkenlurken]

I have one like that as well--just posted some questions about her. she may have runting syndrome . People have recommened higher protein treats--mine is doing much better but she is half the size of her flockmates. Put some vitamins in the water as well. That really helped her get stronger. Her favorite treat is worms and corn on the cob. There may be a congenital defect or she may just be small. I am pretty sure mine has the runting stunting syndrome as she has some odd colored feathers and looks out of proportion--head too small for her body and legs too short--kind of like a duck!

 

[Mimi9fan]

I also have a chick I believe is afflicted with runting stunting syndrome. She is almost 4 weeks and I just bought a one week old to keep her company because the same age chicks were picking on her. I also took her to a vet a week ago, but they were relatively clueless as to what might be wrong. I started moistening her medicated crumbles with water mixed with vitamins and electrolytes. She's finally gaining weight (2.1 oz at the vet a week ago - 3.3 oz today) but I'm wondering what the long-term outlook will be? Am I prolonging the inevitable? Her wings are tiny and she has no other feathers yet. She's a black Australorp as is the friend we got for her today. Anyone have long-term success with a chick like this?

 

[Granny Hatchet]

I never heard of runting stunting. I raise seramas so I have some pretty small chicks sometimes. I also have one right now thats not growing and I had one a few yrs back. She lived 8 months but that dont mean anything really. I had CRD in my flock before and that is a possible cause of stunted chicks.

 

[azygous]

Suffice to say, something is amiss. The first thing people offer as a reason for a chick that is conspicuously lagging in growth is that it's a bantam breed that accidentally was put into the order. You would recognize a bantam since it would still be feathering out at a similar rate as the standard breeds. In other words, having chick down instead of feathers at age four weeks is not normal for any breed.

But I am also at a loss to explain it. While I've never had such a chick, I've had adult chickens that have failed to replace lost feathers and have even skipped molt to be consigned to a tattered set of feathers forever. I have one of those now, and her offspring has failed to regrow feathers plucked out of her back from a hawk attack several months ago.

This growth problem, I'm guessing, is due to either a genetic flaw or a pathological (viral) reason. In the past I've tried high protein infusions, vitamins, all with no tangible results. One hen with this feather regrowth problem did eventually regrow her feathers after about two years, but my present two hens are showing no signs of even one new little pin feather.

It's a mystery.

I think your tiny chick will eventually reach adulthood, but may always be small, thus disadvantaged in life. It may have a short life, being susceptible to predators, bullying, and pathogens. As to the "why" of it, somewhere in its DNA is an abnormal element. It's just the way the shell happened to crumble.