Runt?

[Snaggy]

First, thanks to everyone for providing such an excellent place to come for information.


So, I have 12 week old pullets, 3 Reds and a Buff Orp, and this is my first flock. One of the Reds has always been distinctly smaller than the rest of my girls. She keeps to herself a lot. I notice she always sits on the roost and the dirt instead of standing and sometimes it seems like she has pain when she walks. Her legs seem normal, her vent looks OK too. She's bottom of the pecking order, but I never see any hard pecking in the flock, just the top girls get first choice. She seems to get her turn at the crumble feeder and I throw some scratch, tomatoes and lettuce and even some dried mealworms which she gets some of. She just seems less active. She looks ok otherwise, her feathers are full, she's just quite a bit smaller and acts different.

They've been outside about 3 weeks. They have 70 sq-ft of run and 12 sq-ft of upstairs coop. They've been on DuMor and Purina Growth for a month.

Is this normal for the bottom hen or is there something wrong? I hate to think she's in pain and also wonder if she'll produce.

 

[Bigwig]

Her growth could be stunted because of a lower nutrition intake due to her place at the bottom of the pecking order. Has she ever been sick before?

 

[Snaggy]

Her growth could be stunted because of a lower nutrition intake due to her place at the bottom of the pecking order. Has she ever been sick before?

Can't really say she ever looked sick, feathers always ok and she always ate. She looks about the same as the other Reds did a week or two ago, so maybe that's it. Would that explain the sitting instead of standing? I just put the run out last week so maybe more space will help. I try and spread the treats around and keep some scratch on the ground. I threw out a cup of dried worms today and she got her share, the other birds were too busy inhaling the stuff to chase her off. One problem, all the feeding occurs at the end of the run fifteen feet from the coop and she's shy.

 

[Eggcessive]

She might benefit from a 5 day treatment of Corid (amprollium) for possible coccidiosis. The other chickens may also benefit. I would also place the feed in a few satellite bowls of food and water, so she can sneak a few extra bites. Here is a link about Corid: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/12/coccidiosis-what-backyard-chicken.html