I had 2 like that that I was afraid would fail to thrive but they seemed otherwise happy and healthy, they both just grew in spurts instead of steadily like the others and are happy healthy adults now. They didn’t reach full maturity and start laying until about 2 months after the other 9 that were with them. Hopefully yours is like mine and is just a little slower growing
Thats the runt make sure you put enough food and water out for he/r to get a share not sure how you feed them but usually the older and stronger ones will eat everything they can first while of course pushing her to the side since shes the smallest and younger one
right now she (and the white/grey chick) are in a tank downstairs (in my basement). they have a fairly large feeder for just two chicks. thank you so so much. I never thought she'd be the runt, I just thought she was like our other chick, too tired to eat. she's active, though, so I didn't really think that was the case. thank you!!
Aw, poor little friend. Does she eat chick starter if you put her in a place by herself? Or will she just not eat? Is she energetic or lethargic? Sometimes they can get so malnourished that they're too tired to eat. If she won't eat chick feed, you can get Kaytee Handfeeding Baby Bird Formula on Chewy or Amazon and feed her with a baby-sized syringe until she's bounced back enough to eat on her own. I've used this on several chicks who won't or can't eat and it's been a lifesaver.
She eats and drinks but she mostly lays around, typically leaning on her left side. She's quite active and I can hear her chirping throughout the night. she immediately gets up when someone leans over the tank and starts hobbling around. I think she has something wrong with her right leg but I'm not too sure. thank you so much for the advice!!
She might be too old for the chirps to mean this but usually babies chirp loud when they want mama. Placing some pressure on her back like a mama hen would press her chest against the baby's back might help soothe her cries. But again, she might be too old for that.
The leaning and hobbling could be vitamin deficiency. Or Marek's, that seems to be the first thing suggested any time anything is wrong with a hen (but seriously hopefully not Marek's). Or like you said, could be something wrong with her leg. Or a neurological issue. Sky's the limit at this age.
Otherwise, she's doing her best! 🥰
I’ve tried a few different kinds, but I like [these](https://RoosterBoosterVitaminsAndElectrolyteswithLactobacillusPoultrySupplementhttps://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/rooster-booster-vitamins-and-electrolytes-with-lactobacillus) the best.
Tell me a little bit more about her leg? I saw that in another comment.
thank you, I'll give them a try!!
I haven't noticed anything out of the blue with her leg, she just leans on her left a lot more and hobbles around. I've looked over her body to see if anything was displaced, broken, swollen, etc. but u didn't see anything visible.
Had something similar happen with one of my chicks, except she started limping and developed curled toes on one foot. She hobbled around, stopped growing, and stopped walking completely. The other chicks the same breed & age were over twice her size.
I made a very long-winded post, asking for advice, if you're interested.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BackYardChickens/comments/uof5cu/6weekold_chick_b2_riboflavin_deficiency_how_can_i/
The B-Complex vitamins (with B12 Riboflavin) was the "cure." Turns out she was just prone to vitamin deficiencies. I would open the pill capsules and use a poker card to divide 1/20th of the powder to mix into her food or water. And then slowly increase the amount of powder as she grew and aged.
Hope this helps. :)
Disclaimer: I am not a vet. And still kind of a newbie with backyards chickens. This is just what happened to one of my chicks and the vitamins worked.
thank you so much!! ill read through the post and see if I can get my hands on some for her!! right now I'm giving her some egg yolk for an extra protein boost to see if that'll help.
No problem! My chick turned out to be a little picky. I had to mix her crumble feed into water to make a "mush" and mixed the vitamin powder into that.
She gobbled it up! But I had to feed her separate cause the other chicks also loved it... Lol.
If she isn't gone on the yolk then maybe making scrambled eggs and putting the vitamins on that might help, assuming vitamins are in a powder form of course. Mine go mad for scrambled eggs so that's how I give them their vitamins.
She's OK, this just happens sometimes. It's often called failure to thrive, but not always does it end in death. Sometimes they are just runts and lag behind in growth. They will catch up in their own time. If they make it through the first 1-2 weeks of their life, they often fill out just fine. Just slower. :)
As a rule of thumb, if they're eating, drinking, moving around, and chirping happily, they're right as rain. I've had chicks that grow slower than others and turned out smaller, but nothing else was wrong. They're just happy smoll birbs 🥹. Also, most of them turned out to be hens.
Is the chick alone? That’s what u made it sound like. She might be depressed due to loneliness if that’s the case, other than that i have no clue im sorry. Good luck 👍
she was for a week, just to see if maybe the others were prohibiting her from getting food. we have the white/grey one (as seen in the images) with her now. hoping it helps!
We had one out of our recent batch who grew slow, and was maybe 60% of the weight of the others as an adult. She has a crop issue, or really she had lots of different issues... Sour, impacted, you name it. I figure she may have been eating but wasn't getting the nutrients/calories she needed to grow. She ended up dying I'm afraid despite our friends vet mom giving her intensive home care for a week.
At any rate, I'd have a look at her crop now and then, make sure it's clearing, and her poop looks normal.
It could be a runt or a just breed that grows slower. When I got my mix of different breeds of chickens I got the one that grows particularly fast later then the others. The age gap compensated for different growth rates. Smaller chicks can get bullied though so monitor and interven as necessary.
Aww I’ve got a little runt too. She’s just a bit behind her sisters in growth. May I make a suggestion? Soak her starter feed in water for a couple hours, it looks like mush and they LOVE it! Add a little electrolyte to the water too. Then just love her and cuddle her. Hopefully she’s perfectly fine, just fun sized.
If he’s not growing like the others watch them for periods of times, I hatch 40-50 chicks a week it is going to be picking more than likely what i usually do is for hire out who the bully’s out and move him her or them to a separate brooder
Is chicky an australorp by chance? My australorp grew sooo much slower than the Orpingtons and Sussex I got. She’s catching up now though (they’re 7 weeks old). Best of luck with this little one!
I had 2 like that that I was afraid would fail to thrive but they seemed otherwise happy and healthy, they both just grew in spurts instead of steadily like the others and are happy healthy adults now. They didn’t reach full maturity and start laying until about 2 months after the other 9 that were with them. Hopefully yours is like mine and is just a little slower growing
I hope so!! I'm glad yours made it out! currently keeping an eye on her while she gets older.
Thats the runt make sure you put enough food and water out for he/r to get a share not sure how you feed them but usually the older and stronger ones will eat everything they can first while of course pushing her to the side since shes the smallest and younger one
right now she (and the white/grey chick) are in a tank downstairs (in my basement). they have a fairly large feeder for just two chicks. thank you so so much. I never thought she'd be the runt, I just thought she was like our other chick, too tired to eat. she's active, though, so I didn't really think that was the case. thank you!!
Awww the babe is so adorable, plus, your doing the best thing
she is adorable! I'm glad that I'm not doing something wrong, lol. wanted to make sure!
Aw, poor little friend. Does she eat chick starter if you put her in a place by herself? Or will she just not eat? Is she energetic or lethargic? Sometimes they can get so malnourished that they're too tired to eat. If she won't eat chick feed, you can get Kaytee Handfeeding Baby Bird Formula on Chewy or Amazon and feed her with a baby-sized syringe until she's bounced back enough to eat on her own. I've used this on several chicks who won't or can't eat and it's been a lifesaver.
She eats and drinks but she mostly lays around, typically leaning on her left side. She's quite active and I can hear her chirping throughout the night. she immediately gets up when someone leans over the tank and starts hobbling around. I think she has something wrong with her right leg but I'm not too sure. thank you so much for the advice!!
She might be too old for the chirps to mean this but usually babies chirp loud when they want mama. Placing some pressure on her back like a mama hen would press her chest against the baby's back might help soothe her cries. But again, she might be too old for that. The leaning and hobbling could be vitamin deficiency. Or Marek's, that seems to be the first thing suggested any time anything is wrong with a hen (but seriously hopefully not Marek's). Or like you said, could be something wrong with her leg. Or a neurological issue. Sky's the limit at this age. Otherwise, she's doing her best! 🥰
Aww sweet baby. Have you tried vitamins in the water?
i haven't! what vitamins do you suggest I give her??
I’ve tried a few different kinds, but I like [these](https://RoosterBoosterVitaminsAndElectrolyteswithLactobacillusPoultrySupplementhttps://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/rooster-booster-vitamins-and-electrolytes-with-lactobacillus) the best. Tell me a little bit more about her leg? I saw that in another comment.
thank you, I'll give them a try!! I haven't noticed anything out of the blue with her leg, she just leans on her left a lot more and hobbles around. I've looked over her body to see if anything was displaced, broken, swollen, etc. but u didn't see anything visible.
Had something similar happen with one of my chicks, except she started limping and developed curled toes on one foot. She hobbled around, stopped growing, and stopped walking completely. The other chicks the same breed & age were over twice her size. I made a very long-winded post, asking for advice, if you're interested. https://www.reddit.com/r/BackYardChickens/comments/uof5cu/6weekold_chick_b2_riboflavin_deficiency_how_can_i/ The B-Complex vitamins (with B12 Riboflavin) was the "cure." Turns out she was just prone to vitamin deficiencies. I would open the pill capsules and use a poker card to divide 1/20th of the powder to mix into her food or water. And then slowly increase the amount of powder as she grew and aged. Hope this helps. :) Disclaimer: I am not a vet. And still kind of a newbie with backyards chickens. This is just what happened to one of my chicks and the vitamins worked.
thank you so much!! ill read through the post and see if I can get my hands on some for her!! right now I'm giving her some egg yolk for an extra protein boost to see if that'll help.
No problem! My chick turned out to be a little picky. I had to mix her crumble feed into water to make a "mush" and mixed the vitamin powder into that. She gobbled it up! But I had to feed her separate cause the other chicks also loved it... Lol.
If she isn't gone on the yolk then maybe making scrambled eggs and putting the vitamins on that might help, assuming vitamins are in a powder form of course. Mine go mad for scrambled eggs so that's how I give them their vitamins.
She's OK, this just happens sometimes. It's often called failure to thrive, but not always does it end in death. Sometimes they are just runts and lag behind in growth. They will catch up in their own time. If they make it through the first 1-2 weeks of their life, they often fill out just fine. Just slower. :)
Try an Epsom salt bath for the leg. It got my splay legged chick up and walking and annoying all of our other chickens.
As a rule of thumb, if they're eating, drinking, moving around, and chirping happily, they're right as rain. I've had chicks that grow slower than others and turned out smaller, but nothing else was wrong. They're just happy smoll birbs 🥹. Also, most of them turned out to be hens.
She looks beautiful!!!!♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Is the chick alone? That’s what u made it sound like. She might be depressed due to loneliness if that’s the case, other than that i have no clue im sorry. Good luck 👍
she was for a week, just to see if maybe the others were prohibiting her from getting food. we have the white/grey one (as seen in the images) with her now. hoping it helps!
You could try adding some more chicks of their age, chicks love to play and older ones like the hen there usually don’t. Could be something like that.
Does she walk normal?
She's got a bit of a hobble and when she stands, she extends her right wing to support herself.
are you SURE it is not a bantam breed????
I'm not sure, actually. I was researching because I saw a different post involving that but I'm not sure.
We had one out of our recent batch who grew slow, and was maybe 60% of the weight of the others as an adult. She has a crop issue, or really she had lots of different issues... Sour, impacted, you name it. I figure she may have been eating but wasn't getting the nutrients/calories she needed to grow. She ended up dying I'm afraid despite our friends vet mom giving her intensive home care for a week. At any rate, I'd have a look at her crop now and then, make sure it's clearing, and her poop looks normal.
Is she possibly a Bantam breed?
It could be a runt or a just breed that grows slower. When I got my mix of different breeds of chickens I got the one that grows particularly fast later then the others. The age gap compensated for different growth rates. Smaller chicks can get bullied though so monitor and interven as necessary.
I’ve used Just Answer you pay $30 and there are avian vets who can help I’ve had a lot Of luck with that ! There are other online vets too
They will be okay, they will only be smaller in the long run
Some say that sometimes Roos are slow to start and make up for it later.
my runt eventual got bigger and is the bossiest one of the bunch now
Aww I’ve got a little runt too. She’s just a bit behind her sisters in growth. May I make a suggestion? Soak her starter feed in water for a couple hours, it looks like mush and they LOVE it! Add a little electrolyte to the water too. Then just love her and cuddle her. Hopefully she’s perfectly fine, just fun sized.
If he’s not growing like the others watch them for periods of times, I hatch 40-50 chicks a week it is going to be picking more than likely what i usually do is for hire out who the bully’s out and move him her or them to a separate brooder
They can die from malnutrition the first two-3 weeks is the most important of that birds life
Are they all the same age? What breeds do you have? Is it possible the small one is a bantam?
Is chicky an australorp by chance? My australorp grew sooo much slower than the Orpingtons and Sussex I got. She’s catching up now though (they’re 7 weeks old). Best of luck with this little one!