Dwarfism?long-term effects?

[sekeyslaks]

Is she a bantams mix, is she a winter chick.
I’ve read in one of my bantam breeding books that chickens and bantams tend to be smaller if hatched during or close to the cold months. It dwarfs them. She should be just fine, I don’t think it’s genetic.

Oh no she is a Buff Orp/EE/?? Mix I don’t know her Mom’s breed.She was born on April 3rd this year.I don’t have any bantams only standard sized chickens!

 

[SilkySilkie]

maybe shes just a little small i have a broody hen she hatched out some chicks the first chick to be born was a little small but caught up later

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Two of My Heritage Plymouth Barred Rocks are fall babies, are were Giants. They hatched on the 28th of September. They were the size of 6 weeks olds at the age of 3½ weeks.

My Heritage Plymouth Barred Rock rooster.View attachment 2833617View attachment 2833618View attachment 2833619Bigger, & heavier then the Orpingtons. They were introduced into the mixed flock coop during the winter.

The middle picture looks like a tiny bantam sitting on top of him! That's crazy!

Edited to add that I realize it's your shirt. Just took me a bit to realize that

 

[NatJ]

I did fine what I was looking for. I’m not sure if this helpsView attachment 2833625
maybe this only works in bantams?

Ok I didn’t think it was true. This is a very old book like 1800s

It might have been sort-of true then, if they didn't know how to make good chicken food. Chickens that forage for their own food will find a lot less in the winter than the summer, which could result in several months of underfeeding for the ones that were trying to grow up in winter.

I know that underfeeding can stunt a chicken's growth.
People do it deliberately if they have Cornish Cross meat chickens that they want to breed from, or keep as pets. The stunted growth lets those birds live longer than if they are fed free choice and get really large.

We also see pictures of stunted chickens on here sometimes, from people that get chickens but do not know what a chicken needs to eat. They come here to ask "why aren't my chickens growing?" After they buy proper chicken food, the chickens grow better, but some never do catch up in size.

For the original poster's chicken, I think she will probably be fine, without any long-term health effects. She probably just has the genes to be slightly smaller than some of the other chickens. Some chickens can be over 10 pounds at maturity, but some others only weigh about 4 pounds at maturity and are not considered dwarfs (example: Hamburgs.) Bantams can weigh under 2 pounds, and all those sizes can be perfectly healthy and live long lives.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

I have 2 easter eggers that are smaller than the rest. And they are picked on a little but they do well.

 

[MysteryChicken]

The middle picture looks like a tiny bantam sitting on top of him! That's crazy!

Edited to add that I realize it's your shirt. Just took me a bit to realize that

I could probably put a bantam on his back for fun though.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I have 2 easter eggers that are smaller than the rest. And they are picked on a little but they do well.

Mine boss my towering Malays around.

 

[MysteryChicken]

It might have been sort-of true then, if they didn't know how to make good chicken food. Chickens that forage for their own food will find a lot less in the winter than the summer, which could result in several months of underfeeding for the ones that were trying to grow up in winter.

I know that underfeeding can stunt a chicken's growth.
People do it deliberately if they have Cornish Cross meat chickens that they want to breed from, or keep as pets. The stunted growth lets those birds live longer than if they are fed free choice and get really large.

We also see pictures of stunted chickens on here sometimes, from people that get chickens but do not know what a chicken needs to eat. They come here to ask "why aren't my chickens growing?" After they buy proper chicken food, the chickens grow better, but some never do catch up in size.

For the original poster's chicken, I think she will probably be fine, without any long-term health effects. She probably just has the genes to be slightly smaller than some of the other chickens. Some chickens can be over 10 pounds at maturity, but some others only weigh about 4 pounds at maturity and are not considered dwarfs (example: Hamburgs.) Bantams can weigh under 2 pounds, and all those sizes can be perfectly healthy and live long lives.

Yes, lack of feed makes more sense for creating smaller birds, through stunting.

And that's one thing about Buffy, she had/has access to alot of food. Her tinyness, makes no sense with the lack of food scenario. I'll be getting pictures of her today along with her sister Pea. Pea hates her sister Buffy for some reason. I'll include an adult hen to compare too. They're turning 17 weeks.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Definitely not a dwarf. Dwarfism is more than just being small. This bird here is typical of dwarfism:

 

[Coops Dad]

One of my Snovid pullets is 2/3 the size of her sisters, has a tail that looks like a rudder steering "hard right" and honks like a goose instead of normal chicken noises. The incubation for that hatch was interrupted by the power outage from the February freeze two weeks along. Even though I covered the incubator with towels for insulation, the temps got down into the upper 50's and low 60's, and the power stayed on enough to get up to temp only a few times over the 5 days of rolling blackouts.

16 out of 22 hatched on day 23, IIRC, and none that hatched had any health problems. Only this one has any weirdness to her, and I can't say for sure it was from the chilly portion of the incubation or because of some other defect in her programming. She's a cuddle bug, though.