Why isn't my silkie chick growing? UPDATED WITH PICS...

[shelleyb1969]

I have a 4 week old partridge silkie chick who doesn't seem to be growing. I got "her" when she was 1 day old, and she was about the size of a golf ball. She eats and drinks obviously (or she'd be dead!), but she's very small. She actually looks like a 1 week old chick. She's out of very good stock...both parents are winning show birds. Could she be a "runt"?

Here are some pics of her with the other silkies I purchased at the same time. The bigger chicks are 5 weeks old, and the little partridge is 4 weeks old! See what I mean....BIG SIZE DIFFERENCE!

 

[JennsPeeps]

Lots of runts catch up over time. Depending upon how many chicks you've got, you might want to provide a second feeder so that this chick isn't being pushed away and being denied food.

 

[shelleyb1969]

Thanks Jenns. I only had 7 chicks, ranging from 3 weeks to 8 weeks. I sold 3 of them today. So now I only have 4. This partridge is the youngest at 3 wks, the others are 4 weeks. I've always had 2 feeders set up in the brooder, and I know this chick was eating. It's just so small. The 4 week olds look their age....MUCH bigger than this little guy. I just want to know if this is something possibly genetically wrong, or should I even be concerned? I actually hope she stays small...she's just a little darling!

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Do you mean she isn't growing size wise, or she isn't feathering out?

 

[shelleyb1969]

Quote:
She's not growing size wise. She seems to be feathering out normally, she's just very small in stature.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

I wouldn't worry about it. She may catch up. Watch her for a few weeks.

 

[PurpleChicken]

My silkies have varied in size and growth rates a lot.

These 3 all hatched together and are 2 weeks or so. Notice how small
the one on the left is? He's a roo too.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Is that a buff all the way on the right, or a mixed color?

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
I always thought she was partridge but a few people pointed out that she's a mix.
We still call her Party. Our silkie flock is mixed from eggs we got from Flufnstuff.
We had some Buff Silkies from HinkJC but turned out to be all roos. I have 16 viable
eggs from Party and my Splash silkie on day 20 in the bator now.

Our silkies are like dogs to us. They are from good stock but not show birds.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

HMMMM, I didn't think Melanie at FluffnStuffs let her birds mix colors. She might just be a dark buff.

She's a cutie though! If I thought she'd make it alone, I'd buy her from you! LOL