Jubilee Orpington Very Small

[Jml387]

I recently purchased chicks from Meyer and they are two weeks old now. All 6 of my 7 chicks have large wing feathers and tail feathers and are getting big, how we my Jubilee Orpington is soo small. It’s signifancry smaller than my other chicks, with almost no feathers all fluff still.

Does this mean he’s a rooster and not a hen? Or are Jubilees just slow to get their feathers?

 

[nuthatched]

Could just be a runt.

 

[Red Horse]

How big is your feeder? Is there a possibility she could be getting blocked out from the food and so is growing less quickly?

 

[Jml387]

How big is your feeder? Is there a possibility she could be getting blocked out from the food and so is growing less quickly?

It’s a typical chick feeder from tractor supply, but I have noticed she likes to spend all her time “foraging” in the bedding and seems to eat treats after the bigger girls have dropped them in the background instead of pushing her way to my hand

 

[AinaWGSD]

Fast feathering vs slow feathering doesn't work when you're comparing different breeds. For that matter, it doesn't work when comparing different lines of the same breed.

It's probably just individual genetic differences, my BLR wyandotte was like that. Took her forever to grow her feathers compared to the other chicks. At 10 weeks she still doesn't really have any tail feathers. Up until a week or two ago she did seem to be a little smaller than the other chicks, but that was a lie the feathers were selling. If you picked her up she was solid compared to my other chicks.

As long as she's eating and acting normally I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[RossAcres]

Sometimes there's one that's slow to grow. Eventually they catch up, as long as they have access to feed.

 

[Jml387]

UPDATE: She was fine until this morning, now she is not eating or drinking and just sleeping in the heater non-stop. She does move if scared or prodded by the other chickens but I don't understand why she was fine yesterday and so lethargic today. She has always been smaller than the others but growing, just at a slower rate.

 

[ChicNmom]

UPDATE: She was fine until this morning, now she is not eating or drinking and just sleeping in the heater non-stop. She does move if scared or prodded by the other chickens but I don't understand why she was fine yesterday and so lethargic today. She has always been smaller than the others but growing, just at a slower rate.

Can you separate her and start giving electrolytes and try to get her to eat? Hard boiled egg yolk would be good. Or I have had them like their chick crumbles better when mixed with some water to make a mash. Even better use electrolyte water to make it. I always do a vent check in case they are clogged up.

Sadly she may just have some kind of problem that can't be fixed. You'll never know until you try it though.

 

[Jml387]

Can you separate her and start giving electrolytes and try to get her to eat? Hard boiled egg yolk would be good. Or I have had them like their chick crumbles better when mixed with some water to make a mash. Even better use electrolyte water to make it. I always do a vent check in case they are clogged up.

Sadly she may just have some kind of problem that can't be fixed. You'll never know until you try it though.

I did the egg yolk all day and the next day she was much better! She is still very small and seems to get much colder than the other so I bought a second brooder heater pad I can lower down more for her and it seems to help

 

[ChicNmom]

@Jml387 Good to hear! She may just be a slow starter or a little underdeveloped. The egg yolk has what she needs nutritionally and hopefully her appetite will improve,