A runt or is there more to it?

[Buckeye2002]

I hear ya!


That is concerning... I don't know what would cause that in one chick and not the others, unless it is a deformation.

I have another question: Where did you get your chicks? Did you hatch them or buy them?

I purchased them from a hatchery.

 

[Buckeye2002]

Aren't true Arucana chickens "rumpless"? Maybe this is an Arucana? Doesn't explain size, but could explain shape.

She is a Rhode Island Red..as are all my others.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I would think so. I'd just clean off the affected area and blow dry (cool setting).

Could it be an Araucana bantam, I wonder? If you got it at a feed store, they can get mixed up pretty easily. That would explain the size difference.

 

[ShannonR]

Bantam? Failure to thrive? The poopy back end could be preventing feather growth... who knows. I got one like this from a feed store once, the folks at the feed store couldn't tell me what was wrong with her, but they replaced her for free. The original runt ended up living, so free chicken!

One thing I remember vividly is that the runt was a very loud bird as a chick, always cheeping. An unhappy little thing, for whatever reason.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Nvm! Missed that last post about RIR. I'm a notoriously slow typist. I am still thinking banty, though, tbh.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Bantam? Failure to thrive? The poopy back end could be preventing feather growth... who knows. I got one like this from a feed store once, the folks at the feed store couldn't tell me what was wrong with her, but they replaced her for free. The original runt ended up living, so free chicken!

One thing I remember vividly is that the runt was a very loud bird as a chick, always cheeping. An unhappy little thing, for whatever reason.

Yay, free chicken!

 

[123RedBeard]

So is this your second runt ... as a few weeks ago ... I thought it died ... I'm confused, since this is an "update"

How is your little one doing?

We lost our little one yesterday. She just stopped. I found her early this morning.

Bummer...but not surprising. Something was wrong there. Always hard to lose them tho.

 

[aart]

And she smells horrible. Will a good cleaning help at all?

It would help the remove the nastiness, but not cure the cause of it.
Diagnosing the cause, accurately, so you can effectively treat it is the difficult part.
Posting pics and info in the disease forum would be the way to go if you want to try and diagnose/cure it.
Personally, I believe this bird has something wrong inside that can't be fixed and would euthanize it. Especially because you had another one that was 'not right' that died, as @123RedBeard has pointed out.

 

[chickens really]

Possibly a deformity in the spine being its rumpless and it's covered in poop.

 

[aart]

Possibly a deformity in the spine being its rumpless and it's covered in poop.

Yes, that why the 'rumpless'....not a araucana or bantam.
Skeletal deformity also can mean internal deformities.