What is wrong with this chick??

[chanceosunshine]

Notice the tiny chicken on the left. It’s the same age as all the rest. It’s a Buff Orpington, as is the chicken on the right. Is this some form of chicken dwarfism?? Can I expect it to have issues?
These came from McMurry. They are a month old.

 

[nuthatched]

Could just be failure to thrive, it happens sometimes.

 

[chanceosunshine]

Could just be failure to thrive, it happens sometimes.

Does that mean it will die?

 

[nuthatched]

Does that mean it will die?

They typically don't make it to adulthood, yes. :[ she's not in pain or anything so she can have a good life.

 

[chanceosunshine]

They typically don't make it to adulthood, yes. :[ she's not in pain or anything so she can have a good life.

Thank you for replying. Poor little thing...

 

[rosemarythyme]

Could be failure to thrive, could be a runt. You won't know for sure until it gets older, if it's a runt. I do believe there are "dwarf" chickens but I don't know how to ID the signs.

 

[Weeg]

She looks like she’s feathering well. I wouldn’t be worried as of yet as long as she’s acting normal. Sometimes you get dwarfs. Not common but I’ve seen posts about it in the past. I can imagine it’s not unlikely with hatchery birds as well. Poor genetics. I’ve seen all kinds of wild stuff in threads about hatchery chicks.
From the typical curled toes, splayed legs, to dwarfism, and 3 legged babies.

 

[chanceosunshine]

She is not as "thrify" as the others. I actually ordered 3 of them. Another of them is very small but not as small as she is. The third one is the size of all the other layers that I ordered.
I can't say that I'm shocked since they are hatchery birds, but I did expect better from McMurray.

 

[Hopeful homesteader]

I had a runt like this last year, at week 2 it was obvious she was half the size of the other 11 and after several weeks she didn't seem to grow and I was prepared for her to pass or have to cull her because of failure to thrive. Idk what the problem was but she did eventually start growing and by 15 weeks she had caught up with the rest and is happy and healthy now. She just hatched 5 chicks her first time going broody in May, she's a partridge rock btw. I know the odds aren't great with chicks like this but I hope yours catches up and has a long healthy life.

 

[chanceosunshine]

I had a runt like this last year, at week 2 it was obvious she was half the size of the other 11 and after several weeks she didn't seem to grow and I was prepared for her to pass or have to cull her because of failure to thrive. Idk what the problem was but she did eventually start growing and by 15 weeks she had caught up with the rest and is happy and healthy now. She just hatched 5 chicks her first time going broody in May, she's a partridge rock btw. I know the odds aren't great with chicks like this but I hope yours catches up and has a long healthy life.

Thanks. That’s encouraging.