Runt Chick - not thriving...what can we do?

Date sort Score sort
SuperChiks

SuperChiks

Songster
8 Years
May 10, 2011
261
2
111
North Carolina
Yesterday we went to our chicken guy to get some 4 week old pullets. All the GLW were spoken for except for this little pitiful one standing in the corner by herself. I thought she was so cute cause she was so small. He said she was a runt and just wasn't thriving but was 4 weeks old. He said we could have her...So we took her! lol (we are suckers for the weak and feeble!)

Now how do we help this little girl? She is eating quite a bit and sleeping a lot. She is peeping and alert. She loves to be held and we have the heat lamp on her. She has no fat on her (or meat) whatsoever. She stands but not too long and is very clumsy. My guess is she is weak and has no muscle tone or strength. I was going to get her some poly vi sol and pedialyte. What else can I do to strengthen her up. She doesn't seem to drink that much I was wondering if I should moisten the food. I was thinking she probably wasn't able to eat much with all the others in the brooder.
 
Hmmm, I've never had this before. But I have heard of things like that. I'll search through my chicken magazines and let you know if I find anything!
Meanwhile, best of luck with the chick!
 
Last edited:
Just popping in to say I also have a midget chick and all I can say is give them vitamin suplements and hope for the best, ours is thriving but not growing so there is slight hope.
 
I have a cochin that has been like that since it hatched, she eats, drinks and the rest of the time sits in a corner on her own. Her walk seems odd aswel, she waddles very slowly like a duck.
I have given her vitamins from birth but it's not made a difference, she is in the coop now with her sisters and seems to cope well.
I hope your little one starts to thrive.
 
Thanks! I appreciate any help I can get - hopefully the vitamins and pedialyte will work (maybe some scrambled egg). In the meantime we get to baby her to pieces. If nothing works she will be warm, comfortable and loved in her final days.
 
I hatched a chick like that a couple years ago. It was a black orpington. He only took up about 1/3 of his shell and I had to help him out. We named him peanut because he was so tiny
love.gif
In any case, he didn't thrive or get very big until his teenager stage. He became my biggest, muscliest, most handsome rooster and he fathered many healthy sturdy chicks. There is always hope.
smile.png
Good luck to you
 
I'm a sucker for a runt too. I've had two this year - one in particular just captured my heart. I named him Peter, and he was a little BCM chick. He hung in there with the big guys, but he was always wandering around kind of lost, but in the thick of things. He was so much smaller than everyone else that he always stuck out and got run over a lot. As it turns out, Peter is actually a little hen and she's doing just fine now, months later.
 

Similar threads

M
Failure to thrive?
Replies
1
Views
336
Eggcessive
Eggcessive
L
What would you do?
Replies
3
Views
362
Eggcessive
Eggcessive
tviss711
    • Like
Chick not thriving, tried to offer yolk slurry
2
Replies
14
Views
958
Wyorp Rock
Wyorp Rock
M
Sick Hen- Lethargic, no appetite
Replies
3
Views
434
Tookie
Tookie
thecatumbrella
Chick with curled toes still not putting weight on foot.
Replies
4
Views
258
thecatumbrella
thecatumbrella

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom