for lone chick runt -- high protein feed?

[rosyposyosy]

should i do it? lenore is on her own, and at 10 weeks, the same size or smaller of a 5 week old. should i give her meat bird feed, mixed with chick starter and slowly just the meat feed? she is so much smaller than my banty... and now that winter is coming up, i want her to be fat so she can be warm by herself. she is a maran, which is a heavy breed... just not her.


i really think i should do it... should i not?

 

[lurky]

I had a runt that was so small i wondered if she was a bantam that ended up in the wrong bin at the grain mill. So it took a long time for her to catch up, but she is so close to the normal size now, i have to look close when the 2 are side by side to know which is which. So try not to worry too much, i think it will be fine. Mine developed alot slower too......feathered slower.

 

[rosyposyosy]

thanks! that gives me hope. i keep seeing pics of 5 wk old or 7 wk old chicks, that are HUGE compared to my little one...


is there any HARM to give her high protein feed? if she got fat, it would help her stay warm during the winter... right?

 

[silkiechicken]

Chick feed is already "high" in protein compared to layer feeds. And about her being fat, just give her a bit of scratch before bed time. I wouldn't "make her fat" because that will cause problems down the line when it comes to laying eggs as fat hens can have higher incidences of laying problems like being egg bound. As long as she can be draft free she should be fine.

 

[lurky]

here are 2 pics of my australorps (same age) to show the size differences....but now they are almost the exact same size. They are now 23 weeks and the runt is 90-95% of the the size of the other. I fed them all the same.

 

[robin416]

As long as she seems happy & healthy in every other way continue feeding her just as you are the others of the same age. Protein builds muscle, not fat. She needs to stay on a balanced diet so all of her body systems can develop at the same rate.

As mentioned a fat bird has problems down the road, especially the girls and when it comes to laying.

There are quite a few of us that have birds that started off small, most of them had birds that eventually caught up to the flock. I have one that did not. She's the size of a four month old Silkie and is working her way to two years old. The only thing I was concerned about was egg laying but she's even managing to do that without too much trouble.

 

[dlhunicorn]

this article describes a condition which may be what is affecting your bird ...
http://www.poultry-health.com/fora/inthelth/zavala_pip_05.pdf
I would give a good poutlry supplement such as Avia Charge 2000 (this is a complete supplement formulated for poultry and approved for organic certified and can be purchased from McMurry or Strombergs) as malabsorption of nutrients accompanies this condition (I have a bird affected by this > apparently a less pathogenic strain as he is fine now after several months of careful care and supplementation)