Undersized Australorp chick

[farmgirlsomeday]

Hey all, I'm raising several baby chicks right now, including Alice the Australorp who hatched around Feb. 16 or 17. Alice is adorable and seems totally healthy. She eats and drinks well, and she's active. She interacts assertively with the other chicks. Her eyes and nostrils are clear and basically I see no signs of any problem. However, she's not growing very fast. She's still pretty small, and she still has mostly baby down instead of feathers. Her wings are feathering, but the rest of her is still a fluff ball.

Should I be concerned about this? Are australorp a slow to mature maybe? Any thoights? Thanks!

 

[red horse ranch]

Hey all, I'm raising several baby chicks right now, including Alice the Australorp who hatched around Feb. 16 or 17. Alice is adorable and seems totally healthy. She eats and drinks well, and she's active. She interacts assertively with the other chicks. Her eyes and nostrils are clear and basically I see no signs of any problem. However, she's not growing very fast. She's still pretty small, and she still has mostly baby down instead of feathers. Her wings are feathering, but the rest of her is still a fluff ball.

Should I be concerned about this? Are australorp a slow to mature maybe? Any thoights? Thanks!

I have some that seem smaller than others. If it acts normal then I wouldn't worry about it. At 10 - 11 days old she may not have many feathers yet. Some of your other ones may be breeds that feather a lot faster than an Australorp.
I just checked my Australorps that hatched the 18th. All they have is wing feathers.