How can I make my unusually small Buff Orpington chick grow

[crazychick26201]

I have a nine week old Buff who is half the size of the three other Buffs of the same age. I took her to the vet who tested for cocci and parasites. She was negative, but the vet wormed them anyway because an earlier fecal did show stronglytes. I have been weighing them weekly. The older ones are about 1lb, 15 oz. My little one is 10 oz. She eats and drinks well and is very active. She is not bullied. Could she somehow be a bantam? The vet mentioned a genetic problem. I have been feeding her wet mash and scrambled egg. She eats that well but also loves to catch bugs. They need to be moved to their outdoor coop but I worry because the weather has been cool and frost warning tonight. My little one is fully feathered, but I wonder if she can tolerate the cool night temps. The vet thought she might have a genetic disorder that keeps her digestive system from absorbing nutrients and suggested that she might begin to fail around the age. But she still going strong. Does anyone have suggestions as to what this might be or how I can manage it especially with the larger birds? I have raised several groups of chickens and I have never had a occasion like this. Thank you so much for your help.

 

[hollandaisehoney]

I have an 8/9 week Buff Orpington that sounds very similar to yours. I don’t have any experience diagnosing the problem, but mine is doing fine in the outside coop since about 6 weeks.

She still lags behind the others and is noticeably smaller, but her feathers are growing larger and thicker, and she’s making the best of things. The others don’t bully her, thought she does seem very dumb compared to them. I’m keeping my fingers crossed she keeps growing and learning by watching the more adept chickens live.

Edit: Wanted to say my small buff survived 40 degrees and a frost warning when they first got put outside.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Look up “failure to thrive” in the search bar and see if your chick matches descriptions you find there. Those threads might also have some good advice.

 

[crazychick26201]

Thank you! From what I have read chickens with real stunted growth issues fail to feather out and have other problems like listlessness and diarrhea. My little chick is fully feathered and feisty. However I agree with you, she does not seem as aware of sounds or other issues that make the other three bristle and act alarmed. She is kind of clueless. Good to know that your little one survived outdoors in cooler temps. I plan to take my bunch to the outside coop and bring them in at night for a few days. And I will look up the “failure to thrive” thread too. I will take pictures to post too.