one month-old chick much smaller than the others.

[GardenTeacher]

Hi all! My 10 chicks are about a month old and enormous. They have feathered out, eat like champions, go on fieldtrips outside, eat tender greens and there is barely any picking. Mostly things are going really well, I think, but I have one or two concerns. I have one chicken (an australorp, if it matters) who is much smaller than any of the others. She is feathering out a little slowly but mostly she is just plain small, like 2 weeks behind schedule. Is this a cause for concern? I have also, once or twice, found some blood (at least I think that was blood...) in droppings but i didn't worry much because everyone was growing so well and I was being SO scrupulously clean. I have no way of knowing if it was my tiny girl's droppings but maybe those things are connected. Help put my mind at ease!

 

[donrae]

I've noticed quite a bit of variation in my chicks as they grow. I have full siblings, male and female, and the male is quite a bit larger than the female, this is at 2ish weeks old. My hatchery birds also have quite a size difference, not related to gender for the most part. I think it's just a normal variation, some animals grow slower.

I would be concerned about the bloody poop, though. Are you giving medicated feed? If not, it may not hurt to research cocci and decide if you need to give a course of Corid to your little flock.

 

[QueenBubbles]

One of my chicks is a lot smaller and feathering in behind the others, too. I think it got pecked by its hatch mates and maybe not as much food in the first days. It gets plenty of food now with only 2 others to compete with.
I asked about size and feathering rate, too and the advice I got was to make sure it's getting extra protein (egg, mealworm). I think she'll always be at the bottom of the pecking order and possibly always smaller, but as long as she IS growing, eating and drinking, she can go at her own pace.
Hope that wasn't blood in the poo - that would be bad news. It seems like they would all get the cocci if one has it. Mine get a reddish brown loose stool that smells like a baby diaper but that (I was told) was from not drinking enough water. I free range mine and have to remind them to drink every couple hours. Putting a couple drops of ACV (Apple cider vinegar - like Braggs) is supposed to help them stay healthy, esp if you aren't feeding medicated starter and mine really like it.
Hope this helps some - just passing on what I've learned so far. Here are my 3 littles - Runty is the one in back:

 

[GardenTeacher]

Thanks for your replies! I am doing the apple cider vinegar thing and i haven't found any reddish blood looking stuff in the stool in a few days. Here is hoping that everything is fine!