one of my chicks is a runt!

[gino100]

So one of my Rhode Island reds is pretty much the runt.. The only odd thing about her is that she has her eyes closed what seems to me alot, compared to the others.. Seems to eat and drink fine. Seems to try and hide under the others, almost like she's trying to push them. They don't pick on her at all. Anyone else have runt that grows up fine?

On a side note..of the 4 rhode island reds that I got.. one has a little black line behind each eye..almost like make up.. the others do not..is their a chance it's a rooster?

 

[rhlowe]

I had this happen to me with a Polish Crested that I bought last Saturday. She seemed to ALWAYS have her eyes closed unless you picked her up...and although I saw her eat....and occasionally saw her drink...she never seemed to do more than lay around or sit and "rock" or hide under the other (larger) chick.. I tried giving her water with an eyedropper...and she'd "perk up" for a bit....but then start to fail again. Sadly, tonight, she passed away. She was REALLY small...smaller than a golf ball when we got her, and pretty much stayed that way, while the other Polish Crested we got is growing, scratching, and running around. I hope you have better luck than I did. But of the 8 chicks I've gotten (my first 6 are about 6-7 weeks old now) this was the first time this happened. Everyone else seems fine.

 

[debjo]

I have three new chicks - almost a week old now. Two are growing like mad and have sprouted pretty complete baby wing feathers and are growing tail feathers now. The third is growing a bit but not nearly as much and she's only got a couple of tiny feathers starting to poke out. On the other hand, she eats a ton and drinks water, runs around and pecks with the others, and is seriously imprinted on me.

I have been wondering but assume that since she's acting healthy and vigorous that she's just a little slow to start. I hope so - she's started nestling on my shoulder and it's the most endearing thing ever!

 

[rhlowe]

If she's eating and drinking well that is definitely a good thing. Mine (the one that passed yesterday) was NOT. The only way she would seemingly take water was if I gave it to her in an eyedropper...and her eyes were closed a LOT of the time and she always was either sleeping or "rocking" in the brood box. The fact that she's pecking/scratching with the other chicks/chickens is a good sign too. Good luck!!

 

[cowsr4eating]

I am so glad I read this. Last night I was looking at a group of chicks we hatched that are now three weeks old and one is half the size of the others. Every time I checked she looked like she was sleeping standing up. I've been very worried since she is so small. I assuming she is eating and drinking alright. I put some dried meal worms by her in the brooder and she was the first one to get one. I think I will watch her a little more closely. I'm wondering do they grow out of being a runt or do they stay small when full grown? That doesn't mean they are unhealthy does it? I have to admit we have helped chicks hatch before if they seemed to be having problems. I don't know if we did this time or not.

 

[BoPeep6]

Last year I bought 4 Black Sex Links. One of them was a runt right from the start. Ate and drank and did everything the other ones did but was always small. Then at about 2 or 3 months sprouted and ended up being a rooster!! He was picked on, pretty bad, by the other ones until he decided that he was the boss. Now he is a HUGE, healthy, and, GORGEOUS, boy. He also had a very different pattern then the other 3...at times I thought he was a different breed!

 

[cowsr4eating]

Wow! That is very encouraging. I am so happy to hear the little guy is now on top!