Midget chicken?

[Granny Fixit]

One of my black austrolorpe hens disappeared for a long time, and turned up with 13 baby chicks. Unfortunately, I was not able to herd them to the safety of the orchard and all but one tiny runt chick (and the mother) were killed by a bald eagle.

I was able to catch the terrified baby and bring her inside, but 6 weeks later she doesn’t look nearly as old as she should. She has wing feathers, but the rest of her is just fluff. She doesn’t even have tail feathers, just fluff.

is this normal for a runt, or is living alone (without a flock) somehow stunting her growth?

I’ve tried introducing her to the flock her mother came from, but they give her the side eye and I’m scared to death to leave her alone with them.

she is super attached to me, and wants to cuddle all the time. But I know she needs a flock.

please, any suggestions would be welcome, as I’m all out of ideas.

 

[NatJ]

6 weeks later she doesn’t look nearly as old as she should. She has wing feathers, but the rest of her is just fluff. She doesn’t even have tail feathers, just fluff.

In the photo, it looks to me like she has feathers. Maybe they just have a different texture than you were expecting?

Do you have any birds with silkie-type feathers in your flock? Or breeds that might carry it? (I know that some Seramans and Hedemoras can have silkie-type feathers, and plenty of barnyard mixes carry the gene if they have Silkie ancestry.)