Buff Orpington Pullet very tiny compared with coop-mates

[minichic]

I have three buff orpington pullets (11 weeks old tomorrow). One is very tiny - about 2/3 the size of the others and about 1/2 the size of my silver laced wyandottes. Could I have gotten slipped a bantam from the hatchery? I'm a new chicken momma and have never seen a full grown bantam to make a logical comparison. She wasn't that much smaller as a day old chick, but she sure is now. The friendliest of the bunch and the first to try out anything new. She comes when called and will sit on my shoulder and roost on my arm. Very sweet indeed. She is healthy, active, eats well and her feathering is at the same stages as the others. Do I just have a tiny large fowl or a large bantam on my hands?

 

[itsy]

Pictures pictures pictures!!!

 

[TeriyakiChicken]

might just be the runt

 

[minichic]

Quote:
I was thinking the same thing. I think bantams are quite small. Will try to get pics. So hard when she is always "on me"

I need to get her along side the other girls for comparison.

 

[minichic]

I was in the process of building them a dust bin and they had to help. The pullet in question is on the left. About 2/3 the size of the BO next to her but about 1/2 the size of the SLW.

 

[patman75]

Better pictures of all please. Even the SLW. Maybe your SLW is a roo?

 

[Opa]

Having a bird that is markedly smaller than the others from the same hatch is not unusual. In fact many bantam breeds originated by breeders selectively breeding only the smallest.

 

[minichic]

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Will get better pics in a day or two. All four SLW's have not developed wattles or combs yet at 11 weeks. Pretty sure they are all pullets.

 

[minichic]

Quote:
Makes perfect sense!