Runt chick?

[doulachicknmama]

I have 4 chicks that are exactly the same age, same set, hatched within a day or so of each other, 3 the same breed (silver laced wyandottes) and one is significantly smaller than the other 2. It's getting it's feathers in at about the same rate, behaving the same, seems to be active and healthy, I've seen it eat and drink, and it's not getting picked on, but it hasn't grown much since it was about a week old, and they are about 4 weeks now. The other 2 Wyandottes are getting lanky and gawky looking and have grown quite a bit, but one is only slightly larger than it was at a week old.

Could this be a gender thing, or an illness thing, or what? My husband keeps teasing me about my "bantam wyandotte" but unless that can just randomly appear from 2 full size parents, that's not the case, these birds come from champion show birds and I was expecting alot from them!


help!
thanks!

 

[Judy]

Sometimes a small chick will eventually catch up in size. There is, however, a genetic condition that I know nothing about that causes small size and is eventually fatal. I think they call it dwarfism. Let's hope yours catches up.

 

[BlazeJester]

Interesting. I have one of these as well. Seems to be happy and healthy and has a voice to make up for its small size... but not really growing.

 

[chloezoebob101]

i had one like this, sprouted feathers a few months later than the others, but in the end it is as big and healthy as the others!

 

[LaynaDon95]

I had one. It caught up in no time. We called him Tiny Nugget.

 

[felidaet]

I had one of these and eventually we had to remove it from the brooder in fear the others would hurt it. After several weeks it was still the size of a 3 - 4 day old chick. It did not grow feathers. It passed away after a few weeks.