Do I have a Bantam ?

[I*Eat*Chickens*Yum]

I ordered 6 Barred Rock chicks from MM.

They are all 14 weeks old and 5 of the 6 are very large. The 6th bird is at least half the size of the rest. At least half the size !

She is healthy, very active and eats great, has nice clean feathers and bright cheery eyes so I don't suspect a health issue.

Is it possible that MM accidentally mixed in a bantam? or is it normal to have a "runt" amongst chickens ? Just wondering .

 

[Kanchii]

Sometimes chicks will be much smaller than the rest, pretty much a 'runt' but they usually catch up when they get older, but will always be a bit on the small side. But it is possible that you got a bantam, who knows!

 

[Mahonri]

I have 7 barred rocks that I got from MMH almost 12 weeks ago. Mine are all the same size but one has a beautiful straight tail. With the other 6 they curve down at the end. They all still look like pullets... perhaps it's still too early to tell.

 

[Greyscale Rainbow]

I got my Lily from a farm where it became quite obvious that the old man had more chickens (he said 300+) than he could cope with. From what I could see and what he told me, he had LF Marans, Araucanas and Leghorns. I had gone there with the intention of buying a LF araucana hen. I bought what I thought was a 6wo pullet, and took her home. However, she never quite grew to anywhere near the size I was expecting, despite me not having seen any bantams on his farm. She also lays white eggs

. I have since heard that chickens can have dwarfism like humans can, so maybe this is what happened to Lily and your hen?