Help with a chick that won’t grow. Failure to thrive? I hope not!

[Noellereagan]

The sweet little black chick shown in the photo was born on.... get this... feb 11th!!! This photo was taken last night. (2/27/19). He’s Ayam Cemani. Behind him is a blue isbar that was hatched on 2/19. So nearly ten day younger and the isbar is bigger than the Cemani. I’ve actually got silkies that are younger and surpassed him in size. He was in the brooder with 11 other chicks from that hatch. Until he was getting trampled because he’s
1/8th of the size of the others his age. He’s eating normally. The others left him eat and drink just fine. He’s under the light more than the rest of them. He’s also more “floppy”. I don’t know the right label. It’s not lethargic. He’s certainly quick and chipper when he wants to be. But he’s so much calmer than the rest. Also, the rest have lost more of their obvious down. Whereas this one seems to have gotten more. It almost seems as if his pin feathers are opening into webless feathers but the very reputable breeder said there’s no chance of something else got in and crossbread. It crossed my mind. Of course there’s no feathers on the feet or legs and he is ALL black like a Cemani. He’s on save a chick water now. He gets purina start and grow. And for the last few days I’ve given him hard boiled egg once a day. He took more interest in that last night but other than that he was less than impressed with his eggs. He eats his starter blankly though.
He’s literally barely bigger than a freashly hatched chick. It’s so weird when he jumps out of the newborn brooder and goes where he wants. It’s easy to forget how old he is. He’s pooping normally too.
I’ve gotten very attached with all of the special attention. And so has he.

In your opinion, is it failure to thrive? Or could it be some mutation like that happens to little people in humans. Something isn’t right. I know he should be isolated but he absolutely panics when he’s all alone so I gave him a pal who’s rapidly outgrowing him.
Him nor the other chicks are showing signs of sickness in any way at all. I’m stumped. Any help is treasured more than a bag full of gold. There are no real resources outside of this site. It’s frusterating.

 

[azygous]

Your chick is a runt, but not quite in the failure-to-thrive category. It obviously has a deficiency in the area of being able to efficiently process its food calories and nutrients into body heat and cell growth. While some FTT chicks sicken and die, a few seem to be able to survive to be very small, although normal in most other respects, maybe with the exception of feathering.

One thing you haven't tried that I highly recommend is Poultry Nutri-drench. I've seen it turn around a FTT chick I had. This formula bypasses the digestive organs and liver and gets right into the blood stream, giving a weak chick a significant boost.

What I did with my tiny chick was to crumble up tofu and sprinkle the Nutri-drench over it like a sundae. One of the most crucial things with a chick like this is to leave it with the others so they can stimulate it to eat. My chick very quickly learned to zip in between the legs of its much larger mates to grab its share of the tofu.

Why tofu and not egg? Tofu is mostly a predigested form of soy and it's high in nutrients. Chicks seem to love it. If your chick turns it down, then you can go back to giving it egg. But you do need to specially feed it for at least a week with the Nutri-drench.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Following to see the what others have to say, it's CUTE Looks round like a ball of down, does it ever stretch out it's neck? Between the two chicks, there are some feathers sticking up, is it it's wing feathering?

You may want to start documenting with pictures & observations. Weigh it at least weekly to ensure it's not loosing weight. Hope all's well and it's just a late bloomer, I've read about those on this sight. Couple years ago there was an Australorp that wasn't feathering, member was looking to rehome to warmer climate. She later updated feather sparsely started developing at 4 - 6 months old, I maybe wrong but it was no "chick" but a cockerel. Normal in every sense.

@azygous Your post showed as I was posting, thanks for the info on tofu. Good to learn.

 

[Noellereagan]

Thank you so much to both of you. You have made my day and gave me hope. The feathers on the back do stick straight up. Looks to be part of wings. He does stretch completely out and he’s so cute.

Can I leave him with one mate? I have him in a brooder in the house where it’s warmer. The rest are in an insulated and heated room in the barn and it’s 75 there too plus lamps. But my concern is he was really getting trampled because he’s so tiny. Will one chick stimulate him to eat? Can the second chick have the nutridrench too. I’m guessing so based on your post.

It’s better on the tofu versus just putting it in its mouth? Are we worried about aspiration with the dropper method? I do have nutridrench at home. I’ll start tonight. I’ll also grab tofu on the way home.

 

[aart]

Why tofu and not egg? Tofu is mostly a predigested form of soy and it's high in nutrients. Chicks seem to love it.

If one has tofu in their fridge...I love it, used to make it and always had some around.
I'll bet many most don't even know what it is.

 

[Morrigan]

I had a small, runty chick last summer. She lagged way behind her hatch-mates in both size and feathering. She was always cold, cried a lot and had pasty butt. She almost died of cold one morning because the heating plate I was using for warmth had gotten too high for her. I found her cold, limp body one morning and thought she was a goner. I was able to revive her, gave her nutridrench and scrambled eggs, and she was able to rejoin her hatch-mates.

This story has a happy ending. She hung tough and, at around 4 months, she went through big growth spurt. By 6 months old, looked like a normally sized pullet and she finally started laying at 9 months. You would never know looking at her now what a sorry little chick she was.

This was her at 6 weeks next to one of her hatch-mates. I wish I had a better picture, but as you can see, she still had no feathers on her head.

 

[azygous]

If one has tofu in their fridge...I love it, used to make it and always had some around.
I'll bet many most don't even know what it is.

You're probably right about most people being in the dark about tofu. Some may have heard of it, but don't know that grocery stores keep in in the fresh veggie and fruit section.

If folks have heard about it, they just recall jokes about tofu burgers. Tofu burgers really can be a joke if you're expecting something that tastes like meat. One thing you need to do to keep tofu fresh after you open the carton is to rinse it every few days and store it in a covered container submerged in water. Unless you do this, it grows some real colorful red-orange slime mold.

I got the idea to feed my chick tofu after I saw it was teetering back and forth on its legs, wings drooping and eyes closed. It had very little life in it. I figured it wasn't digesting the chick crumbles since it was not growing at all and fading fast so I tried to think of a food high in protein and easily digested. I've been eating tofu for nearly 50 years so I always have it in the fridge. The chick is the small one pictured in my article on aggressive baby chicks.

 

[ChickNanny13]

@azygous I'm Asian & in Hawaii so know "tofu" but really not my favorite. How do you prepare yours? Sorry OP, didn't mean to get off subject but Tofu is a healthy food.

 

[azygous]

@azygous I'm Asian & in Hawaii so know "tofu" but really not my favorite. How do you prepare yours? Sorry OP, didn't mean to get off subject but Tofu is a healthy food.

I worked in downtown Los Angeles a long time ago, and my Asian co-workers were impressed that I had brought a snack of tofu and honey. The stuff is so versatile, you can do anything to it you want.

I haven't been a big meat eater since I was poor and couldn't afford meat, and I substituted tofu and got to prefer it. It's versatile because it takes on the taste of whatever you cook it with. I've dumped it into spaghetti sauce, chicken flavored noodles, minus the chicken, teriyaki noodles, red beans and rice, and my recent favorite, pesto pasta.

Tofu has calcium and other unique benefits for us women, and the biggest benefit is it's good protein for a low cost. Oh, and chickens adore it. Hens need calcium, too.

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

@azygous I'm Asian & in Hawaii so know "tofu" but really not my favorite. How do you prepare yours? Sorry OP, didn't mean to get off subject but Tofu is a healthy food.

Trying giving it SPAM instead then!!