How thin is too thin for a 2 week old bantam roo?

[prepperchickens]

I have a 2 week old pair of silver sebrights, male and female. The male, Atilla,, has always been the smallest and more fragile but even though he acts fine and eats well and even bullies the week old guinea keet in with him, I notice when I pick him up and the is very thin compared to his sister. My rooster chicks always seem smaller and more frail, even my barred rock did, but I've never raised bantams and I just don't know what's normal. He's active and loves to eat, I give them oatmeal, mealworms, egg sometimes, clover (they love clover) and medicated chick starter mixed with chick grit...I out probiotics in their water along with ACV. I took all those extra steps because they came home with pasty butt that never fully cleared up (more like they poop normal but it sticks to their down as thigh they're too low to the ground to clear it) but they definitely got stronger and more active. He's always been slightly less strong on his feet than his sister, he's gotten better but still falls sometimes when trying to groom his backside or anything requiring more balance than normal, he has no deformities and like I said he's gotten better but that's another reason I gave so many extra food sources.
He is strong enough to attack the guinea keet from time to time pretty aggressively, which made me feel better when I saw it lol. It's like he gets annoyed with the keet always frolicking around honking and being a crazy guinea, my keet is very very tame though and has helped the sebrights loosen up.
Can I do anything to help him gain? I worry the ACV is involved, it's a great way for humans and rats to put on 10% less weight so probably works like that on chicks too. People swear by it so I just figured it wasn't an issue when diluted so much. It definitely stopped their runny butts almost immediately so I kept using it, just a drop in their tiny homemade waterer.
I have liquid baby vitamins that do not say iron added, would that help? Any tips?

 

[GitaBooks]

Could it be that the guinea keet is eating all the food? Do you have multiple feeding spots?

Vitamins should help, but I would suggest those specially made for poultry, just to be on the safe side.

Best of luck!

 

[prepperchickens]

Could it be that the guinea keet is eating all the food? Do you have multiple feeding spots?

Vitamins should help, but I would suggest those specially made for poultry, just to be on the safe side.

Best of luck!

I am kind of paranoid so I can honestly say I spend at least 2 or 3 hours minimum, possibly more some days, sitting in the bathroom watching them and interacting with them, lol. I paid close attention to the keet's impact on the two chicks, I had heard people say they lost roosters to guineas just kinda hogging the feeder so voraciously that the roosters starved. Guineas don't mean to but they are such incredible hogs, chickens just cannot keep up. It's like putting cats and dogs together and feeding them in the same bowl, dogs woof the food and cats will be put off, they don't woof. Is it wood or wolf? Probably wolf, I'm very tired, stayed up too late obsessing over my sebrights every breath yet again (even though they honestly seem fine, I just wort and feel like magically my worried gaze makes it all OK and god forbid I don't torment myself enough, they would surely die lol). But luckily my teeny tiny rooster immediately showed me homie don't play dat the very first day I blessed them with the gift of an ADD lunatic guinea keet, lol. He began attacking the keet immediately (nothing harmful, he's a baby sebright after all ) but only for the first half hour off and on. He did it again 2 days ago but that was because I tried out a red bulb which for some reason made him angry with the keet. I named him Atilla after witnessing these skirmishes. He doesn't let the keet keep him from the feeder, in fact he is pretty adamant about the feeder and it's funny because the way he eats somehow looks very irate and entitled. I anything the keet gets sidelined, he has started hopping on top of the feeder and pecking at the stray crumbs that somehow landed up there. I think that has more to do with his need to feel like he's foraging though combined with him being a doofus.
I do worry that the keet being so high energy is exhausting for Atilla but he honestly keeps up ok, he cries like a little baby whenever I take the keet away even momentarily, sebrights have the most piercing, desperate little cry.
Atilla has always seemed a little fragile to me, even before the keet. The keet seemed to lift both the sebrights spirits when I introduced him, they stopped looking so lonely and have definitely become 10x more confident and friendly to me I guess from seeing the keet do cartwheels and beg to be picked up whenever I come into the bathroom. One thing that freaks me out is how both sebrights go limp and fall asleep the moment I pick them up. I doubt they're cold, I have to keep the brooder warm enough for the keet under the lamp and cool enough that they can be comfortable away from it.
I've never had bantams, maybe I'm just not used to how small they are at this stage of development. I think they're losing their down also, and it's making them look sickly because they're not fluffy anymore. Aren't sebrights pretty svelte compared to normal chickens? Is it considered molting when chicks lose their down? My barred rocks were so much bigger by that point and they were black so it wasn't as obvious when they got patchy. I do remember at first thinking my BR roo looked sick before I realized he was losing his fluff, I assume cockerels are usually less curvy than pullets?
The keet is quickly outgrowing the sebrights but still waaaay too small for the others. I know in maybe just a few days even he will be too big for me to feel great about him bein in with them trampling all over stuff. I know for sure his clumsy rambunctious frolicking gets overwhelming for them sometimes, they aren't all that much smaller yet but I've noticed sebrights are dainty little birds, they just don't handle noisy rough and tumble stuff well, they like slow, steady, movements and seem to be too regal and uppity for his antics. They love him and they have made a huge effort to loosen up but everytime I put him back in the brooder to shut them up after trying to give them a short break and peaceful snack time only to hear them shrieking like they're being stabbed to death because I guess they want him back. I really can't get another bird for the keet to live with, my husband was already less than thrilled when I bought the keet himself. He would happily ride on my shoulder all day but he's a handful and doesn't hesitate to run head first off my arm onto the ground several feet below if he even thinks he sees a treat down there.
So, maybe a much bigger brooder set up would help the sebrights have some peace? I guess with a way bigger brooder I could also cordone off a zone for the keet where he can be an idiot and run into things without hurting the sebrights? I'm not sure they'll stand for him being separated even by a transparent wall, they insist they need him at all times.
Most importantly, what else can I do to help my little Atilla? He doesn't really look frail in the brooder stomping and scratching around, but he doesn't even bother trying to perch most of the time because his feet are somehow too weak to give him security. He can perch on my hand a little but prefers to sit like in this photo. I just have a feeling he needs extra help, but that whatever it is can be overcome, he's a tough little guy. One thing I've noticed is that though his ties are normal and Not permanently curled, sometimes when I pick him up he doesn't bother to straighten them and kinda rests with them curled until he has to move. I feel like he's always stressed because he's not as steady as he should be and he's nervous all the time that he's gonna fall or get knocked over. I have seen him run jump and hop up on stuff, but the bigger he's gotten the less he seems to take the chance. I was told bantams can take longer to gain footing but he isn't growing out of it and I don't know how to help I feel like he puts on a good show but really is held back by this just enough to stress him a bit.
As for vitamins, I will look for poultry vit but if using the baby drops, how much shod I give him?

 

[GitaBooks]

I'm not sure if its true, but it seems to be like bantams grow in feathers quicker than standard breeds.

Separating the brooder into two, so they can see one another but not interact, could certainly help, for at least part of the day (when you can't watch them).

Your sebright boy should be okay. He might just be genetically slightly weaker than his sister. If he keeps up with being strong and healthy then he should grow out of this.

I'm not sure about the vitamins. Sorry.


Best of luck!