- Nov 4, 2014
- 54
- 13
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Hi all.
We have a mysterious situation on our hands.
Our flock of 6 chickens are about 17 weeks old now. One of our girls, the cream crested Legbar, is a runt. She has been small and behind the others since she was 3-4 weeks old. We have given her lots of special support both to keep her alive and to try to get her to gain weight, but now as she approaches adulthood, it's becoming clear that she is always going to be small. She is smaller than our bantam Silkie and has almost no extra meat on her bones. I estimate that she is less than half the size she should be at her age. But she is a very happy chicken and enjoys her life as a free ranger. She is even developing roosterlike habits of protecting the other girls (which is hilarious). And because she is so small and light, she can fly pretty well, which is really fun to watch.
But as she approaches point of lay, we're getting worried about what to expect. (I don't care if she never lays an egg. She has become a pet chicken through all her travails and has a happy home with us. But I am curious.)
Here are what I think are the possibilities:
1) She never lays an egg.
2) She lays tiny eggs, like a bantam.
3) She tries to lay full size eggs, but gets eggbound and dies.
What's most likely to happen here, BYC? Has anybody ever had a tiny chicken?
We have a mysterious situation on our hands.
Our flock of 6 chickens are about 17 weeks old now. One of our girls, the cream crested Legbar, is a runt. She has been small and behind the others since she was 3-4 weeks old. We have given her lots of special support both to keep her alive and to try to get her to gain weight, but now as she approaches adulthood, it's becoming clear that she is always going to be small. She is smaller than our bantam Silkie and has almost no extra meat on her bones. I estimate that she is less than half the size she should be at her age. But she is a very happy chicken and enjoys her life as a free ranger. She is even developing roosterlike habits of protecting the other girls (which is hilarious). And because she is so small and light, she can fly pretty well, which is really fun to watch.
But as she approaches point of lay, we're getting worried about what to expect. (I don't care if she never lays an egg. She has become a pet chicken through all her travails and has a happy home with us. But I am curious.)
Here are what I think are the possibilities:
1) She never lays an egg.
2) She lays tiny eggs, like a bantam.
3) She tries to lay full size eggs, but gets eggbound and dies.
What's most likely to happen here, BYC? Has anybody ever had a tiny chicken?
