Runt or not

[hollytruitt]

At this time we have 16 chicks. Supposed to be 2 weeks old but most look older than that. Got them from McMurray Murray Hatchery. (Wyandotte, brown leghorn and barred rock plus surprise Egyptian Feylomore.). One of the barred rock is a runt (ittybitty) still looks to be a day old chick while everybody doubled in size.
They are in our house in a brooder. We will be moving them out to our detached garage that is at 60degrees with a more higher wattage brooder plate (puritan pride).

We are getting 7 more chicks this week (brahmas) We plan to keep ittybitty inside our house and place her with the brahmas when they arrive as the garage ambient temp will be too cold for her. She only has down feathers while the rest have thicker feathers. She will be alone for a day or two.

Are we doing the right thing? See picture of ittybitty next to her flock mates.

Thank you for reading and advising.

 

[ExoticPetOwner]

Chickens grow quite fast, usually getting feathers within days after hatching. In my experience, our runt chick took longer to mature, thus needing to be inside for a longer amount of time than the rest. I think keeping the chick with the younger ones isn't a bad idea, just make sure there's no bullying.

 

[hollytruitt]

Chickens grow quite fast, usually getting feathers within days after hatching. In my experience, our runt chick took longer to mature, thus needing to be inside for a longer amount of time than the rest. I think keeping the chick with the younger ones isn't a bad idea, just make sure there's no bullying.

Just found out this morning Brahmas are late. May not ship till next week so she will be alone a lot longer than we thought. Maybe this is a good thing that way she has time to mature before Brahmas come. Agree with the bullying. We will keep an eye on that with cameras and human eye