Why would my Rhode Island red be so small still

[motherhen11]

If anyone has photos of their Rhode Island red that is about 9 months it would be greatly appreciated if you could share and we could compare. Thanks!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Drumstick Diva, she's the only RIR I have. No, she doesn't seem to get bullied... She eats all day long too. We feed organic. Her crop feels full during the day so we know she's getting food. We give treats such as black sunflower seeds, pumkin seeds, meal worms. But to pick her up, she feels really light weight. Seems like she has a growth stunt. I just hope nothing is wrong. We have nothing else to go by.

She might just be a bantam. Being small isn't a sign of bad health.

 

[motherhen11]

Drumstick Diva thank you. Just cocerned...If just a bantam that is ok w\us . Will keep you posted...Thanks again.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Drumstick Diva thank you. Just cocerned...If just a bantam that is ok w\us

. Will keep you posted...Thanks again.

I'm not drumstick diva, but you're welcome

 

[motherhen11]

Bantamfan4life sorry! Thank you.

 

[donrae]

I don't think she's a bantam, I think she's stunted somehow. Even if she were a newly hatched chick when you got her, she'd be 6 months old now, and she doesn't look that mature at all.

How much protein % is your feed?

Have you had any respiratory illness?

 

[motherhen11]

Flockmaster: Yes, the RIR has always been on the small side. The Feed we give is between 18-19 %. We also let them free range, and give them black sunflower seeds, flax seeds, pumkin seeds, meal worms, oat mixture, a few times a week. There are no respitory issues that I can see. They all seem fine. One of our newbies, a Wyondotte had something wrong w\her a few weeks back as a few of our chickens were chasing--picking on her. We quartined her for 10 days, a couple days in quarintine, she was better, 5 days in and she was great, kept her the ten days and she's been fine since then. Although that wouldnt have anything to do with the RIR's growth as she has been slow growing awhile...we just got the Wyondotte at the end of August. The RIR hasn't shown signs of a respitory issue that we can see. It is a very docile bird, we can handle it w\ease. The roosters never try to mount the RIR...we also wondered if it was a boy, or the Roos just know tge RIR is younger than the other girls, or that somethings wrong? We just dont know, this chicken stuff is confusing at times. Open to advice...suggestiins...thank you.

 

[motherhen11]

Our RIR is also very light weight.

 

[motherhen11]

Flock Master- I made a mistake on the protein, it's lower, it is almost 17% protein. And they get the other above snack a few times a week.

 

[donrae]

I don't know.....some of the feathering in those first pics had me wondering if it was a young cockerel. But regardless of gender, the fact that it's so small and docile says to me it's not a healthy bird. Folks often think a bird is docile or friendly when it's really sick and just not healthy and active enough to put up much of a fuss.

Were it mine, I'd probably just cull her. I'm pretty production-oriented, and want healthy stock. You might try a course of antibiotic for her, durramycin or something like that. I've heard some of the respiratory bugs can be sub-clinical and not show actual respiratory symptoms, but the bird just has a failure to thrive kind of thing. Couldn't hurt, anyway. And you can decide what you want her future to be, if you want to keep a non-productive bird as a pet or not.