Tiny Cornish Cross

[PinkBlanket]

Hello,

I placed an order for Cornish Cross birds almost two months ago and everything has been going great. Anyway, I have an anomaly. There is one bird who is extremely small and has some strange characteristics that are unlike the other birds. In the beginning he just looked very small, but as the others continued to rapidly grow he looks like he is still a week or two old at two months. He eats and drinks a very small amount, he sings non-stop (he doesn't sound distressed, just kind of idly chirping, but it is literally non-stop, even into the night when the others are sleeping, he is still chirping). He has very poor balance and usually stretches his wing out to stay standing, he looks like he tries to walk on the tips of his toes, he is extremely friendly and seems to love cuddling up to either humans or the other birds. He doesn't seem to be sick at all, he is just very tiny. He weighs maybe two ounces and still fits into the palm of your hand. He has tattered looking wings even though he has never been in a situation where he'd be rough-housed (we segregated him away from the rest of the birds early, though he now lives with two other Cornishes from the same batch who were having a hard time keeping up with the others who can get a little confrontational with each other, and now they are doing wonderfully too). I took a few pictures and I am just wondering if you have seen this before or if maybe he is just another smaller breed who got mixed in. I looked up pictures of people's Cornish Cross runts and he is much smaller. I look forward to any input, thanks!

 

[sourland]

Some chicks just fail to thrive - generally to a congenital problem that usually results in their death.

 

[junebuggena]

He looks sick. Have you treated for coccidia?

 

[PinkBlanket]

Hi,

Thank you for the reply! He was started on medicated feed and the other two who are living with him look great except for minor leg problems. We also have about 200 other birds and nobody else is sick at all. The Cornish Crosses that he was started with are thriving and due for butchering in a few days, they will be ~5 1/2lb dressed. If I dress this little guy, I may get a single chicken McNugget. He seems really happy and lively. I take him out and he pecks around the grass a little. He's just a really tiny version of the others, personality-wise (except the singing, bad balance, tiny size, horrible feathers, overly loving, very personable, etc., so not really like any of the other birds at all). I am trying to give him a great life because he seems so happy, but he is amazingly raggedy. The farm cat and lurking hawks just look at him with zero interest. I think that after the others are gone, a 50lb bag of feed could last him a good ten years if he could survive it.

 

[junebuggena]

Medicated feed doesn't help in an active outbreak, and just because the others aren't showing symptoms doesn't mean that he doesn't have it. He looks sick. Treat him for coccidiosis and see if it helps. There is no harm in treating.

 

[PinkBlanket]

I will look into that. Is there any other diagnoses that comes to mind when looking at this little guy?

 

[PinkBlanket]

I forgot to reply to this - I know this is an old thread and I will be bumping it but it may be helpful to others. The problem is not coccidiosis. The chicken had stunted growth which likely happened from catching a chill during shipping. I hope that this is helpful to someone in the future who has this anomaly. This little fella lived past his full grown counterparts into approximately 3 months - he had a lot of food, water, space to himself and a great deal of spunk 'til the very end!

 

[writergirl]

I forgot to reply to this - I know this is an old thread and I will be bumping it but it may be helpful to others. The problem is not coccidiosis. The chicken had stunted growth which likely happened from catching a chill during shipping. I hope that this is helpful to someone in the future who has this anomaly. This little fella lived past his full grown counterparts into approximately 3 months - he had a lot of food, water, space to himself and a great deal of spunk 'til the very end!

So I know this thread is super old at this point, but your mini cornish looks JUST like my little Ducky that I started a thread on and I was told he was a golden sex link. I am curious, he's at 22-24 weeks old now and still going strong (though walking is rough on him), what ultimately ended your little dude?