Sick chick or pecking order?

[Soadnathan]

Hi all!

My partner and I started our flock on March 24th with 6 hens: 2 orps, 2 RIRs, and 2 black sexlinks. The lady at the store said they were about a week and a half old which puts their current age between 3 and 4 weeks. We feed them NatureSmart chick starter crumble.

Over the last week or two, we noticed one of the RIRs is growing much slower than the rest. She is definitely still growing (and eating) tailfeathers, comb, and all. I can also attest to her health because she is incredibly fast, and get this... the only aspiring escape artist of the flock! She only made it out of her bin once and proceeded to sit on top of our baseboard heater, which probably saved her life here in upstate NY where I keep the heat set to a cozy 60F.

Maybe uncoincidentally, we also noticed in the last week that the smaller one started to get picked on a LOT more. (maybe that's what drove the drive to escape?) When we realized the bullying was interfering with her ability to eat, we put her in a different bin altogether. After researching these forums a bit, we now realize maybe that was a bad idea since this forum seems to support isolating the bully not the victim. It didn't seem like any particular one was the main offender though so we didn't really know who to punish. We're obviously open to any feedback here.

Anyways, today we made some upgrades. We ditched the giant storage bins and fashioned a big cardboard pen for them all (5'x4'-ish). We added another food and water source as well as some enrichment stuff like a rock and makeshift roosts.

Everyone seems happy, except the runt. She is terrified of the rest of them, and they still seem to pick on her though maybe not as much. They were separated for about a week total. The weird part is that she is incredibly affectionate with us and will jump up our arm and perch on our shoulder if we reach into the pen. She seems healthy other than some occasionally runny poops, which I've seen from some of the other hens as well.

It just really sucks to see her run laps when she gets picked on and now she just refuses to even go near any of them and will cower even if the others walk towards her slowly. I want her to be at ease with the rest of the flock but she is clearly stressed and keeps to herself unless one of us approaches. I'm still suspicious that she isn't getting enough to eat since she has to wait for one of the feeders to be unoccupied.

I really want to get ahead of this problem so I came up with a list of questions.

-This is not a failure to thrive since she is still growing/feathering, correct?
-Could she be sick with something else while not exhibiting any symptoms?
-Can you bond/hold a chick TOO much?
-Do I try giving them electrolytes considering the runny poops?
-Should I add a third food and water source?
-Should I try to temporarily isolate one of the 'bullies' even though it might be everyone?
-Do I wait until I see blood before I isolate the small one again?
-Since the runt seems to be otherwise healthy, could she just be a "mini" hen?

I will attach pictures of the pen and the two RIRs side by side tomorrow.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

This is not a failure to thrive since she is still growing/feathering, correct? Correct, not failure to thrive but indeed every once in a while you get "a lemon," a chick that is just not as healthy.
-Could she be sick with something else while not exhibiting any symptoms? She could have issues that are not exactly sick, more like neurological, etc.
-Can you bond/hold a chick TOO much? Yes.
-Do I try giving them electrolytes considering the runny poops? electrolytes can never hurt
-Should I add a third food and water source? 2 should be enough for 6 chicks
-Should I try to temporarily isolate one of the 'bullies' even though it might be everyone? Better to keep a close eye on everything until and unless you see blood or severe pecking, feather pulling, etc.
-Do I wait until I see blood before I isolate the small one again?
-Since the runt seems to be otherwise healthy, could she just be a "mini" hen? Yes. She could be a runt or a bantam. If she started out looking exactly like other RIR's then likely a runt.

I will attach pictures of the pen and the two RIRs side by side tomorrow.

Yes please post some pics. I've had 2 runts in my 20years, about 75 chicks. Exact same thing happened, they both lived their best lives, always smaller than the rest and always a little "off," making me think fundamental problem not a sickness that I could fix. Both died around 1.5. But again, they lived their best lives, it's all you can do. My runts did not get picked on as chicks but indeed they were low or last in pecking order and spent alot of time running away from the bigger top ladies. The runt SHOULD be bonded with flock mates despite size so that's really what I'm hoping will happen now that you did the right thing about integrated her back.

 

[Soadnathan]

Just posting a quick update here, it was definitely pecking order stuff and not being properly integrated into the flock. I know that in the future, separating them should be a last resort. After a few more days of harassment, and one situation where the flock actually protected the runt from one of the bullies, she regained her confidence and was back to eating with them and hanging out

I'm still giving them electrolytes and the runt is still getting picked on sometimes, but everyone seems to be healthy and happy.

Thanks for your reply Sandy!

Edit: Left one is runt, right one is the other RIR. Both hatched around the same time.