Extremely small chick?

[CoopsNPoops]

I wasn't sure which forum to post this in, but is there a possibility for a chick to recieve bantam genes when its parents aren't obvious bantams? I have 3 or so chicks whom are much smaller than the rest. And one of those chicks is EXTREMELY smaller than even the 3 smaller ones. Like it hasn't grown much at all since hatching almost 2 weeks ago. Even it's wing feathers. They're all out of the same EE Rooster and a variety of other EE hens. The rest of the hatch (25 or so) are all on track size wise as normal 2 week old chicks. Bantam genes? Dwarfism? What could be the cause? (Ill get pics shortly)

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Sounds like dwarfism. Does it seem to be thriving despite its small size?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

It sounds like a failure to thrive/runt chick. Despite the name, they don’t always die, and may get a growth spurt and end up much like the rest of the chicks.

 

[CoopsNPoops]

Yes. They're thriving just fine. You wouldn't tell them apart if it weren't for their size. One of them did have a day or so of being bullied from the food and water though (and bout died), but in a few hours of nursing it, it was back to normal. I brought the smaller ones in with me for a couple days incase they were not thriving good enough, but it didnt take long to notice they were perfectly healthy and fine, just smaller. They had good body weight to them, lively, active, eating fine, drinking fine, etc. I took them back out to the brooder a couple days ago. The one chick though, hasn't grown hardly at all. The 3 chicks seem to be out of the same hen, since they're colored the same. Maybe its just the hens genes? I do have maybe 1 or 2 hens that lay almost bantam size eggs, dispite not seeming to be bantam. I got them from Cackle Hatchery. Do they breed bantams in their EEs?

 

[CoopsNPoops]

These pics are of the normal size chick, compared to one of the smaller ones. Its hard to take good photos of moving chicks, lol. I will attatch pics of the smaller chick compared to the tiny chick too. Then of the smallest chick compared to the normal one. (So see additional posts & photos too.)

 

[CoopsNPoops]

This is a small chick compared to the tiny one.

 

[CoopsNPoops]

And this is the normal size chick compared to the tiny one. The normal chicks wing can fit over an cover the tiny one.

 

[CoopsNPoops]

He was a bit messy. He's had a bath and blow dry since earlier

 

[Mellowmalt]

It's clearly a runt, a good couple weeks development behind. The thing is as the others grow they will eat more, they will need less heat but this one will need to eat chick starter for longer and still needs the heat of a 1 week old chick by the looks of it. If he gets the same heat as the rest his development will be stunted even more.

I'd be interested to know what will happen, if it will grow up just fine but a bit delayed, whether it has a genetic defect making it never grow up or whether it will grow up but be really small

 

[CoopsNPoops]

It's clearly a runt, a good couple weeks development behind. The thing is as the others grow they will eat more, they will need less heat but this one will need to eat chick starter for longer and still needs the heat of a 1 week old chick by the looks of it. If he gets the same heat as the rest his development will be stunted even more.

I'd be interested to know what will happen, if it will grow up just fine but a bit delayed, whether it has a genetic defect making it never grow up or whether it will grow up but be really small

He has been inside with me for a long time. I use the incubator as his brooder and heat source. I put him (or her) back in the brooder with the other for a few minutes, but it was clear they were to big for him and ran over him alot so i brought him back in. The two other small ones are doing just fine. I'm not sure why he won't grow. He eats and drinks just fine. Seems healthy and active otherwise. Always has. He just won't grow! Lol. The other two small ones have atleast grown a little. Not this tiny fella. He does however seem to sleep alot, and he is getting quite spoiled to the egg yolk i cook him every morning. He lets me know if i don't cook it fast enough! Lol.