Are there runts when it comes to chickens?

[Torino68]

i just got 12 Rhode Island Red chicks last Friday. All seem happy and health but when I got them they all seemed the same size.
Now almost a week later, one seems much smaller then the rest and he/she is just now starting to get wing feathers while all the others have at least if not more then 1/2 their wing feathers.
I’m not reall too worried about it because he/she eats and drinks fine just curious if I’m going to have a “pocket chicken”

 

[N F C]

First off...

One of the first batches of chicks I raised had a runt too...she was a tiny little Speckled Sussex. Her hatch mates and the other chicks at the same age were all bigger than her for quite a while. It took time, but Peanut (named for her small size) eventually caught up with all the rest of the flock. Some chicks just seem to develop at a slower rate.

Having said that, is it possible your little one is a bantam? Maybe just slipped into your batch in error?

 

[sourland]

Some chicks because of congenital problems can be runts. Others can fail to thrive. Others just grow much slower than their hatch mates, and then there are bantams.

 

[Torino68]

First off...

One of the first batches of chicks I raised had a runt too...she was a tiny little Speckled Sussex. Her hatch mates and the other chicks at the same age were all bigger than her for quite a while. It took time, but Peanut (named for her small size) eventually caught up with all the rest of the flock. Some chicks just seem to develop at a slower rate.

Having said that, is it possible your little one is a bantam? Maybe just slipped into your batch in error?

Not sure. It looks just like the others, just much smaller.

 

[Pullet Mom]

i just got 12 Rhode Island Red chicks last Friday. All seem happy and health but when I got them they all seemed the same size.
Now almost a week later, one seems much smaller then the rest and he/she is just now starting to get wing feathers while all the others have at least if not more then 1/2 their wing feathers.
I’m not reall too worried about it because he/she eats and drinks fine just curious if I’m going to have a “pocket chicken”

Hi, I have 4 australorps (all hatched on same day and same size when I got) and my one (munchin) is now only 4 ounces after 9 weeks old...and the other 3 are all normal size. she is also eating, drinking, and acting normal......sounds similar to your baby....I am hoping that all is good!

 

[Kes]

Sometimes slower feathering can mean a cockerel but if they're small as well they may just be a bit slower to develop (or a bantam or have some health issues like others mentioned).

When I got my first batch of birds (Welsummers and EEs) I had one Welsummer that was always smaller and more delayed than everyone else, but she eventually caught up and now I'd say she's my prettiest out of my Welsummers and also lays the biggest eggs.

Alternatively, the EE that was my first chicken to lay and who was always on the bigger side as a chick, stopped growing before some of the others and I've had concerns over her weight (seemed skinny) and calcium absorption (weird egg shells) in the past. She seems more balanced now, but that first year, I wondered about her a lot.

Some of them just need time!

 

[chickens really]

Could be a Cockerel. As long as it's running around and doing what it should be doing..Nothing to worry about.