Such thing as runts?

[Chris0684]

Hello, new here and had a few questions. I have 7 pullet chicks (3 ISA brown, 2 Cream Legbar, 2 Starlight Green Egger), and they all seem to be doing quite well. I did have a couple instances where I need to clean off a vent, but aside from that they all seem very active and healthy. My topic comes from the fact that one of the chicks is quite a bit smaller than the others, maybe not quite by half, but pretty close to it. Like I said, she seems very active and spunky, just...small. So is there such a thing as a runt chicken, are there certain medical conditions which will stunt growth, or are there just variances in chick sizes and I shouldn't be concerned at all? Thanks for the info.

-Chris

 

[Pipica]

Hello, new here and had a few questions. I have 7 pullet chicks (3 ISA brown, 2 Cream Legbar, 2 Starlight Green Egger), and they all seem to be doing quite well. I did have a couple instances where I need to clean off a vent, but aside from that they all seem very active and healthy. My topic comes from the fact that one of the chicks is quite a bit smaller than the others, maybe not quite by half, but pretty close to it. Like I said, she seems very active and spunky, just...small. So is there such a thing as a runt chicken, are there certain medical conditions which will stunt growth, or are there just variances in chick sizes and I shouldn't be concerned at all? Thanks for the info.

-Chris

Hi there, if the chick is eating drinking and acting normal then all is good. Chicks come in different shapes, sizes , colors, personalities and intelligence levels. Right now I have 40 chicks various breeds 3 day old , 3 week old and 5week olds and have 3 runts . They arrived little bit chilled first week of February and needed some tlc to pull through and they did. However, couple days not feeling well in the beginning cost them a lot. They a 1/3 size of their sisters and feather development is behind as well. I marked them just to be able to monitor their development later on as once they reach 10 to 12 weeks the difference will be gone. Sometimes , some of them (like people or anything else) they are just meant to be … short , tall skinny, round , silly, inquisitive, scaredy-cat, bully, cuddle bug and anything else you can imagine. Chicken are … like a box of chocolate … enjoy it! ;D

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Out of the 2 separate hatches both had a hen that is smaller than the other hens. Past experience has shown that these will be slightly smaller than the others with no bearing on egg laying. Our granddaughter named the first one Nugget we'll see what her name for number two is. Although I don't name chickens what can I do about her naming chickens? NOTHING!

 

[Chris0684]

Great to hear, thank you both for the info. I had a feeling it wasn't too big of a deal as the chick doesn't seem weak or otherwise unhealthy, but as this is my first go-round with chicks I just wanted to make sure....like a box of chocolates indeed!

My wife and kids are very much like your granddaughter Austral, all the chicks have names, though how they tell them apart is news to me. I can tell you which breeds are which, but that's about it! LoL

 

[DozenChipper]

I have a green egger and isas as well! I just found this thread searching for 'runt'. I got all my chicks at the same time. They were all the same size except the green egger was a bit bigger- probably a day or two older than the 5 isas and others. Anyway, 2 weeks in it was obvious that one isa was a bit behind. 2 weeks later, she is now half (if not less) the size of all the others. Finally started growing out some feathers when the others had inches of feathers... not sure how this one will fare. At least they all get along and she can maneuver her way in to eat and so forth. Hope she catches up soon. Want them all to move outside at the same time (as as soon as possible!!)

 

[doomsie]

I've got a little spunky one too. She's a just under half the size of her Barred Rock siblings (all around ~6 weeks). Here she is alongside a Delaware chick that's about a week younger than she is. She's got a ton of energy, she's just...so tiny. I've read about something on BYC called "failure to thrive", and also about the possibility that you've got a bantam on your hands.

Whatever the case, I hope your little one outlives us all!