Tiny Silkie

[bairdfarm]

I have 5 chicks that are about a week and a half old and one that is close to 2.5/3 weeks old. Three of those are silkies and one is a lot smaller than the others. I was wondering if it was simply a runt or had symptoms of disease. My little pip squeak is around half the size of the other silkies. What I think is the weirdest issue is that it constantly wants to cuddle the other chicks, espicially the older barred rock. The barred rock shows little interest in it and sometimes tramples over it when it tries to cuddle. The silkie even ran to cuddle one of our adult chickens that walked by when I was letting them have outdoor play time. The little silkie will usually lag behind if the other chicks get excited and run somewhere. It also gets crowded out of the feeder frequently. It is such a sweet silkie that I hope is just growing slowly. Are any of these signs symptoms of disease? *I wanted to add that is doesn't have trouble getting around. It tries to fly, runs, and everything like the others, it is just a little slower.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

It is cold if it is trying to go under another chicken. It may be suffering from being a "runt" or it may have coccidiosis. Does it eat and drink? Does it stand with feathers fluffed up? If it isn't eating or drinking well, has diarrhea, and feathers fluffed up, it may need Corid.

I have had runts before...you may want to give it a little light to stand under to warm up. Sometimes they don't make it if it is too cold and they cannot thrive.

If you are experiencing very hot temperatures and it shouldn't be cold...then I would consider that maybe it is suffering from coccidiosis.