I have a chick (Barred Cochin Standard) that was shipped by one of the larger mail-order hatcheries (born on or about August 25, arrived by mail August 28) -7.5 weeks old now.
This chick is not developing at a normal rate. She still has complete body 'baby chick down' and is only just now showing some wing feathers.
I believe (after some internet sleuthing) that she has some genetic feather mutation that slows her rate of feather growth (vs a nutritional/environmental issue).
Right now, all chicks go into a two-story bunny hutch within the main coop/run at night that has had supplemental heat in the form of an over-heat brooder heating plate (large size, from rentacoop) and are let out again in the morning. Given that the other chicks from this shipment are almost 8 weeks old also, they do not need the supplemental heat and are fully feathered out. Each night, I find this little runt of a chick and make sure she is in the top floor of the bunny hutch, under the heat. Today I removed the heat source as it isn't really needed, costs $ to keep running and the group will keep the runt warm so long as they are housed in the bunny hutch.
As they are getting too large to stay in the hutch, this week I plan to transition them from the hutch to the roosting bars by taking away the hutch as an option. The runt cannot fly up to the roosting bars, she's not a weakling, she holds her own with chicks 4X her size, she just doesn't have the ability (yet).
I'm located in the north Bay area, zone 9a so, our overnight lows are in the mid 40's to mid 50's right now.
What creative and clever ways can y'all help me with in terms of coming up with a night-time solution to keep this chick warm and with her coop-mates.
Photos show the bunny hutch, the runt, a same-age barred Cochin Standard coop-mate, a golden-laced Cochin standard for comparison - also the same age, and the runt herself, yet to be named but y'all help a girl out with suggestions.
This chick is not developing at a normal rate. She still has complete body 'baby chick down' and is only just now showing some wing feathers.
I believe (after some internet sleuthing) that she has some genetic feather mutation that slows her rate of feather growth (vs a nutritional/environmental issue).
Right now, all chicks go into a two-story bunny hutch within the main coop/run at night that has had supplemental heat in the form of an over-heat brooder heating plate (large size, from rentacoop) and are let out again in the morning. Given that the other chicks from this shipment are almost 8 weeks old also, they do not need the supplemental heat and are fully feathered out. Each night, I find this little runt of a chick and make sure she is in the top floor of the bunny hutch, under the heat. Today I removed the heat source as it isn't really needed, costs $ to keep running and the group will keep the runt warm so long as they are housed in the bunny hutch.
As they are getting too large to stay in the hutch, this week I plan to transition them from the hutch to the roosting bars by taking away the hutch as an option. The runt cannot fly up to the roosting bars, she's not a weakling, she holds her own with chicks 4X her size, she just doesn't have the ability (yet).
I'm located in the north Bay area, zone 9a so, our overnight lows are in the mid 40's to mid 50's right now.
What creative and clever ways can y'all help me with in terms of coming up with a night-time solution to keep this chick warm and with her coop-mates.
Photos show the bunny hutch, the runt, a same-age barred Cochin Standard coop-mate, a golden-laced Cochin standard for comparison - also the same age, and the runt herself, yet to be named but y'all help a girl out with suggestions.
