Hey Chef. Which Hatchery did you partake from? You can p. m. me if you like to answer that. There are some that take more pride in sending you exactly what they say they will when you pay for what you order. Some could careless. Your little one sort of looks like a Swedish Flower Hen or a Cream Legbar chick at about 8or 9 days old. We were taking their leg bands off that day so you have to do that around 7 to ten days after you receive them. How old are they supposed to be again? Here are some of my Cream Legbars and Flower hens at a couple days old from Meyer Hatchery in May of 2020. Attached. The very dark chicks are my Black Orpingtons and two of the Swedish Flower Hens were very dark chicks because they have gray and black in them as Almost adults now and my other Flower hen is very light and has no black and she is the one that is my Avatar pic and I attached her also as one of the four. Now I had a runt so to speak in one of our Legbars that we called tiny Tina and she never checked up from the food bowl but was always a little more shy and reserved with us yet she held her own with the girls and will also hold her own with our dogs. We have two small breed dogs that they were raised in the house with that know not to harm the “babies” and the girls are almost bigger than them in size not weight now and they are not scared of the dogs at all because they know that the dogs are afraid of me and two of the hens are like bulldogs or male turkeys almost. I’ve got a mean Flower hen and one Orpington that is really large. She ways probably close to 6lbs at 21 weeks already and when she makes her presence known to them they scatter. But this Flower hen thinks she is a rooster I guess. She has bitten me and brought the blood on two or three occasions now that I don’t care for. She used to love me and be one of my favorite. She is a gorgeous bird. She is the darkest of the three SFH. Very sought after. Anyway. As to your little one does she get enough food or does she possibly get pushed away from the food by the others? I don’t know if you have lots of other chicks or older birds that might influence her ability to feed but if she is not able to access the feeder enough you might have to separate her often enough just long enough for her to eat as often and as long as she wants to. Also I left the food down for mine in the brooder 24:7 until about 6 weeks. However, mine were raised indoors. Another thing is where you live. If she is using a great deal of calories to stay warm and is not getting to stay near the heat source that could be an issue also until she is completely feathered out which is not far off but she is small and needs just a little more boost or leg up on things for whatever the reason maybe. Another thing I have done in the past for other chicks is adding peanut butter to food and making a mash with it so it’s liquidy and they get a calorie and blood sugar and additional Protein boost. It wouldn’t hurt her one bit and who knows her growth may take off then after just a few days to a week of TLC. She could very well be healthy and just small. Sometimes a hen can pass a worm burden down to chicks but coming from a Hatchery it’s very unlikely if they are reputable at all and you should have noticed this from the other chicks also by now with worms. She will probably come around or who knows they might have goofed and sent you a Bantam by mistake and just make a call if she doesn’t turn into the Jolly feathered giant soon and start eating corn and sweet peas galore! Lol! Good luck and I hope she remains healthy and does well as does the rest of your flock. Take care!
Is she eating/drinking active? Crop emptying? Is she pooping o.k.?
From what I have observed the small chick is eating and drinking. I have mixed in some fine grinds of grit with their feed. So I can only assume that everything else is okay. Her butt is clean so, no pasty butt. I see it at the water bowl and feed bowl on regular basis.Is she eating/drinking active? Crop emptying? Is she pooping o.k.?
If she is doing all the above, then it's wait and see
You can always weigh her now, get a baseline weight and track whether she's gaining.
