Is it normal for bantam chicks to stay this small? (+ mystery chick)

[Bellatrixed]

I have raised a lot of bantams and a lot of standard chicks, but this is the first time I've brooded them together. I know the bantams always seem to take longer to grow, but I'm just struck by how truly massive the standards are whereas the bantams are still super tiny, like so:



They are all the same age, a few days shy of 2 weeks in this pic.

All of them are super active, healthy and lively, but they seem to be growing in slow motion. Is this normal? The black one in front is even smaller than the other bantams, but it also seems perfectly happy. The only exception to my tiny bantams is this guy, the chick on the right, which is supposedly a d'Uccle yet is the size of the standard barred rock & australorp next to it. Talk about confusing, it is roughly twice the size of the other d'Uccles...



I'm not sure if it's just a quality thing or what. They're from the Ideal d'Uccle assortment and so far I haven't been happy with the quality. I ordered 10 and have 6 left. All 4 Porcelains I was sent were super weak and died, but these have all stayed healthy and happy despite their tiny size.

Any input is appreciated!

 

[gimmie birdies]

It depends on the breed. I had a sebright that was tiny tiny and we got her to go with a turkey (on purpose) when they grew together the turkey love his sebright and would protect her from the other chickens plus they are fun to watch together.

Recently I bought chicks to go with a batch that was hatching out , but after the chicks hatched the bought chicks were 5 day olds and the only ones I could leave with the newbies were the bantams. then when the new hatched got their sealegs I put everyone back together.

 

[gimmie birdies]

also I was going to say it is not that the bantams are so small it is that the other chicks got so big.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I second what the previous poster said about the bantams. I mostly wanted to say- WHOA! HOLY MOLY! That "D'uccle" is huge! Are you possible its a standard Sultan? It probably isn't a Cochin, bc its bearded, but I have a hard time believing Ideals genetics are so off that their bantams would produce a chick that large! How many toes does it have, what type of comb (though those may not be a good indicator either bc of hatchery genetics- I've noticed some Sultans have 4 toes instead of 5, straight combs instead of v's, and don't show much crest as chicks)? I'm off to look thru Ideals website now, my curiosity is piqued!
Nikki

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Nevermind, Ideal doesn't even sell standard Sultans (not that I could find, anyway). The only thing I could find that looked even a little bit like your chick was a Salmon Favorelles. Is that chick all white, or are there other colors the picture isn't showing?
Nikki

 

[Bellatrixed]

Thank you for the replies! I didn't think much of it at first but I kept reading about "runt" chicks and started wondering if I had runts, mostly because of the freak white "d'Uccle"

I actually ordered Salmon Faverolles too, and thought this chick was a Faverolle when they first arrived... but it's solid white. The Faverolle chicks have so many colors coming in on their feathers that it's easy to tell them apart. It also has leg feathers that fan out and pointy feathered hocks like a d'Uccle versus the shorter/rounder leg feathers of the Faverolles. So strange... I wondered if it was a Sultan too but it has no crest. Plus, if it's not a d'Uccle then that means they only sent me 9 instead of the 10 I ordered. Either way, I'm not too impressed with Ideal's d'Uccles at the moment! The standard chicks I got from them all seem lovely though (for hatchery quality, I mean).

Oh, it has a single comb and I'm not sure of the toes, I'll have to go toe counting later!

 

[MuddyBootsPA]

I am a beginner at backyard chicken keeping, so I am by NO means an expert. However, I have 3 Leghorns, 3 Red Sex Link & 2 Bantams (unknown which kind). The bantams are only a few days younger & are MUCH MUCH smaller than the others. In fact, they are so small, they run underneath the other chicks like they are their "Mommy". I was wondering the same thing as you, but I'm guessing it's probably normal.

 

[Bellatrixed]

Thank you for the input MuddyBoots! I am assuming my itsybitsy bantams are normal now, yay!

But this big one is still boggling my mind, so here are more pics!

Here it is, front left, with a bunch of standard chicks behind it and a couple "normal" d'Uccle to the right. As you can see, it's a little smaller than the standards but much taller than the other bantams...


Single comb:


Four toes:


And the strangest thing... it is solid white, except it has ONE single multicolored feather on its wing. Half is buff and half is black. Am I just looking at a mixed breed here? lol


And just for comparison, these are the colors of my Salmon Faverolle chick, so I'm positive it isn't a Faverolle...