We're losing her.... UPDATE 4-14

[Carenm]

Can you post a picture of her compared to the others?

 

[Berritt]

I can get a picture today. She lost more weight. this morning she weighed in at 6 7/8 oz. She was up to 7 3/4oz at her max. Now she's just losing. She is now less than half the size of the others, the biggest of which is a pound and the others aren't far behind.

There really isn't anything else I can do for her. How can you tell if a crop is impacted?

 

[Jess N Jeff]

I have Bantam Ameraucana chicks that are about 2 weeks old now. I have one little one that is half the size of the rest of the flock and bantams are already small. She is soooo tiny, but as long as she eats, drinks and poops...I just let her stay with her flock. She keeps up with everyone but is just itsy bitsy.

 

[AnnainMD]

I have a runt (Standard not Bantam) Welsummer who I decided at the outset I would not give any extra "help" to. I decided if she could survive without any extra assistance from me, then more power to her.

The other 3 chicks I have are SO much more robust than her. She (we call her "Derf") would eat and drink but wouldn't go after the mealworms or other treats I put in there. She actually seemed to just not "get it." Within a week she finally was going after the worms, playing keep-away, the whole bit.

HOWEVER, she is still smaller than the others, probably about 2/3 of their size, feathering out just like them, she's just smaller. She seems to have these spurts of growth, so one day she looks about half their size, then the next day she's two-thirds again. Actually, like my son!
I haven't weighed them at all. It's an interesting idea.

Did you weigh them because she was so little or do you normally do that?

 

[Berritt]

I started weighing them because I was worried about her. I kept track for a while, and then stopped writing it down because the others all grew fast.

These are our first chickens, and I normally probably wouldn't weight them if they were all big and robust like her flock. I still weigh her every day because I wonder what is going on and now that she's losing weight, I'm even more curious. Humans fail to thrive all the time and it's treatable, so I feel like there has to be SOMETHING I can do, but what it is, I don't know. I suppose she could have some underlying condition that wouldn't be treatable, but I'll never know.

She's actually becoming more disinterested in food. I'm just holding her more often, she does like to snuggle down in my neck. That or she's just not healthy enough to care. Our other chicks hate being handled!!

 

[Berritt]

UPDATE-
She is still kicking. She was 7 1/4 oz forever. Over the last few days she went to 8 3/8 oz. Still nothing "normal" about her growth/size. But she hasn't died. Still acts like a chicken. Just very odd...

 

[AnnainMD]

Very interesting. My runt is still smaller, normal behavior just smaller. I just put them out in the coop tonight. These are my first chickens too and I just got the 2nd batch of new fuzzies yesterday! Hard to believe the first batch was ever that small.

 

[HorizonChickens]

have been following the thread- new to chickens too and have one smaller than the others, not developing tail feathers as quickly, etc... but she's fine and growing. Glad to hear your little one may be pulling out of her issue. Gaining weight is great!

 

[Berritt]

I just wanted to update that she is HUGE now. But her comb never really turned red and I am not sure that she is laying. (She might be... but i have NEVER seen her in the nest box and I have seen all the others) She seems happy and healthy otherwise, though!