Slow growing chick

[Quailwhatdoyaknow]

So I have 4 coturnix quail that are 15 days old. Three are 2/3’s of the way feathered and can already jump up 20” or so and actually flutter there. One of them is about half their size and can maybe jump 8-10”. It is eating the same food getting plenty of water and overall is very active and happy. Its feathers are coming in but just very slowly and it’s growing so slow compared to the others. I’ve read that this is not uncommon and since its made it this far it most likely will be okay. Since I got them at 4 days old it was always the smallest. The others don’t pick on it for its size they all get along. Here’s a couple pics from the cam I have with them. Sorry for image the quality but you can clearly see how much smaller and less feathered it is compared to the others.

 

[Nabiki]

It may grow up just fine, or you may find that it went to sleep one night and never woke up. It's hard to say.

In my personal experience I have had these come out of an egg that suffered a slight mishap that resulted in a cracked egg after lockdown. Sometimes they make it, sometimes they don't.

 

[Quailwhatdoyaknow]

Thank you. That’s kinda what I figured.

 

[Susan Skylark]

I’ve had mutants grow at half the rate of clutch mates, good chance something isn’t quite right even if you can’t quite pin it down, may grow fine or suddenly die. Currently have a week old hatch with a runty Tibetan half the size of the others, seems to have slight wry neck (shipped eggs).

 

[Quailwhatdoyaknow]

Interesting. Yeah this chick seems to be doing great at 19 days old. It’s the one directly under the heat plate. You can see the size difference