Dwarf/special needs 3 month old chick

[JessiWhite]

I have an Ameraucauna chick who is almost 3 months old. Her sisters, from the same hatch, are looking great! My poor Maybelline however, isn't. She looks like a ball of feathers on two little chicken legs. She is eating and drinking fine, but her siblings often knock her over, and she is so small that she can't get herself back up. Went to the coop this morning to find her stuck half way under the nest boxes. I got her out and brought her inside and I wasn't sure she was gonna make it. A few hours later and she is finally standing and eating and drinking and peeping. My husband and I have decided that she doesn't need to be in the coop anymore, but that she needs to be by herself for a while to see if we can get her to put on some weight and gain some strength. We think she might be a dwarf or have some other kind of genetic disability. Any suggestions for her care, or what she might have would be wonderful! She is the sweetest little thing and she loves attention, so we just want to give her the best life we can for however much time we have left with her!

 

[MMorganE]

I am in the exact situation. They DID injure my dwarfs lg in the coop. Now she is inside and hopefully not permanently injured. Also, they seem to pick on her much more since shes "different" than them. What i have done is let her live in a big cage inside. I take her outside...monitored only, every day. When i leave the house, I line the bathroom with towels and let her stay in there. Mine is SUCH a sweetheart and it breaks my heart that the others dont really accept her. They literally walked and hopped on her all the time. Until yours gets bigger and stronger, I suggest keeping her 100% separated. My poor babies leg may never heal from when they jumped on her. I believe my dwarf has a genetic defect as well. The mama must sense this, as she tried to kill her one day. :-( Good luck!!

 

[MMorganE]

This may sound terrible...but my vet told me to give my little Lily boiled chicken if I am going to have her inside. Chickens need protein for strength and growth. The outsiders get that through bugs. So now Lily gets boiled chicken throughout the day.

 

[JessiWhite]

Here are some more pictures. I'm not sure why it wouldn't let me add them to the original post.

 

[MMorganE]

She's so pretty! My little dwarf lily just pooped some blood :-( Does yours have an abnormally small head, like mine?

 

[MMorganE]

Only 1 pic of yours is showing up

 

[JessiWhite]

I'm not sure what is going on with my pictures! I'll keep trying. And she has a normal size head, just her neck and body are tiny.

 

[MMorganE]

OMG SHE IS ADORABLE!! The pictures worked! But girl I must tell you, I had an "oucast runt" chicken almost 3 months old. She was outside in the coop with the others last night. I woke up today and she was scalped. They spent their night dang near killing her because she was the smallest of the bunch and a little defective. I highly recommend you keep her separated. It wasn't the baby hens that did it. It was the adults and the baby roosters. My dwarf defect that lives inside, i have decided, will only stay inside until I get my flock down to all hens and no adults. Which will be soon. Like tomorrow. I cannot stress enough that I would keep your precious adorable baby separate until she grows stronger or you figure out something else. My inside baby still fits in my palm at 2.5 months old. I bring her best friend inside to keep her company while I am gone. Let me know what you decide to do. Maybe i can get some tips from you. Best of luck. Keep me posted!

 

[MMorganE]

In the last picture, your baby looks lonely. Mine did this too until i brought her in. Minimizing her stress has worked wonders on her health and happiness. Since she is inside and isnt eating bugs, I feed her boiled tiny pieces of chicken for protein. This has helped her gain strength tremendously. You and I are in the exact situation so I feel for you! I think I have decided to build her (Lily) her own coop outside. She can live in it with my two other sweetheart hens. But again, until she grows and gains stength- she's safely living in the spare bathroom inside

 

[JessiWhite]

Yeah, we had decided yesterday that she was no longer gonna be in the coop outside. She hadn't even met our adult birds yet! We have a huge baby coop attached to our big one that we keep biddies in until they are big enough to free range with the rest. I probably make them stay in there way too long, but I'd rather be safe than sorry!

Maybelline is gonna live in our brooder box for at least a week. Next weekend we might build her something more permanent outside. We just gotta rack our brains and come up with something. I hate for her to miss out on being a chicken! But, she might also grow big and strong in a few months of isolation and be able to live with everyone else one day! I'll keep this post updated so we can bounce ideas around.