"Runt" chick

[Kneedles]

My relatives have many free-ranging chickens on their property, and today it was found that one of their hens had hatched fifteen chicks. Most of them were in a normal condition, but one of them was clearly in a bad way. It was smaller than the others, could hardly balance on its own two feet, and was extremely noisy. It was not being rejected by its mother, but everyone thought that it would soon die of its apparent sickness. I do not expect it to last long either.
What was wrong with it, and is it a common occurrence among chickens?

 

[Y N dottes]

This is exactly what is happening with a chick that hatched this week for me. I don't think there is anything you can do to save it. My belief is that it isn't 100% on the inside and for the first day or two it will live off its absorbed yolk, and then go downhill from there. I am not sure it is common, but it does happen often enough if you are around young chicks a lot.