What to do with a dwarf chick?

[CHICKEN BUFF]

These pics were taken at six weeks old. The little dwarf is a Tolbunt Polish Frizzle with a standard-size pedigree. The big one is a Silkie-cross chick of the same age that I put in with her for company

My little chicklet is now 8 weeks old and the size of a starling! Yet she eats and drinks well, and is very active and healthy. My biggest question is what do I do with her? She's in a brooding box in my house with the Silkie-cross buddy. They don't seem to need much heat anymore. But if she doesn't get any bigger, how can I put my little dwarf in the chicken yard with the "big girls"?

History: The chick was the lone hatchling out of an incubated clutch of six (three others were viable but died at hatching-they were much larger in the shell than the survivor).

PHOTOS - Today she weighed 2.9 ounces. She'll be 8 weeks old in three days.

 

[HiyokoMama]

Wow! 8 weeks and sooo tiny! I'm sorry I can't help, I'm a newbie, but your chicklet IS to cute and tiny!

 

[JedJackson]

Keep her in a warm place with her buddy, feed her high quality feed and hope for the best. Neither is big enough to go in the hen house yet and they will still need warmth and protection. The Polish, sorry to say, may not live long. Tolblunts are notorious for never making it out of the chick stage-- very prone to disease and malnutrition. You might try giving her some meal worms.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Does she always stand on her full feet like in the picture, or does she usually stand on her toes, like the other girl in the picture? Not sure if the answer will give any real information as to whether she will be okay or not. Just trying to find a start to the answer to your question.

 

[Little Chicken Girl]

I got a crevcouer chick (relative of the polish) that was miniature. She weighed about 1/2 of what the others weighed for the first couple months but is now around equal size at 5 months. The way your little one stands is something to watch for. Polishes tend to sit/stand in that manner (putting weight on her legs instead of her feet) more frequently than any other breed I have experienced. However, if she refuses to stand on her feet or toes at all or hardly ever stands normally, there would be cause for consideration. Out of curiosity, do you have a scale? If so, could you weigh her so I can see what she weighs? A packing scale or other small weight scale that weighs to the quarter ounce would be optimum. I have kept the weight records of several polish (and other crested variety) chicks and I can pull up the record to compare with your mini Tolbunt if that would help.

 

[CHICKEN BUFF]

Does she always stand on her full feet like in the picture, or does she usually stand on her toes, like the other girl in the picture? Not sure if the answer will give any real information as to whether she will be okay or not. Just trying to find a start to the answer to your question.

Good question. Nope, she stands and walks on her feet properly (thank goodness). I think she was just intimidated by being out in the open for the photo! Will try to take another photo today.

 

[CHICKEN BUFF]

I got a crevcouer chick (relative of the polish) that was miniature. She weighed about 1/2 of what the others weighed for the first couple months but is now around equal size at 5 months. The way your little one stands is something to watch for. Polishes tend to sit/stand in that manner (putting weight on her legs instead of her feet) more frequently than any other breed I have experienced. However, if she refuses to stand on her feet or toes at all or hardly ever stands normally, there would be cause for consideration. Out of curiosity, do you have a scale? If so, could you weigh her so I can see what she weighs? A packing scale or other small weight scale that weighs to the quarter ounce would be optimum. I have kept the weight records of several polish (and other crested variety) chicks and I can pull up the record to compare with your mini Tolbunt if that would help.

She is actually standing and walking properly on her feet, so that's one thing I don't have to worry about. (And yes, the other Polish in my flock often sit on their hocks too!). Took a couple photos of her as I just weighed her on my kitchen scale - 2.9 ounces!

 

[CHICKEN BUFF]

Keep her in a warm place with her buddy, feed her high quality feed and hope for the best. Neither is big enough to go in the hen house yet and they will still need warmth and protection. The Polish, sorry to say, may not live long. Tolblunts are notorious for never making it out of the chick stage-- very prone to disease and malnutrition. You might try giving her some meal worms.

I wondered about her life span. Didn't realize Tolbunts were susceptible to this odd condition. I'll try the mealworms, thank you!

 

[Little Chicken Girl]

She looks

She is actually standing and walking properly on her feet, so that's one thing I don't have to worry about. (And yes, the other Polish in my flock often sit on their hocks too!). Took a couple photos of her as I just weighed her on my kitchen scale - 2.9 ounces!View attachment 1110590 View attachment 1110591

She appears pretty perky from the pictures but my 3wk 'small' pullet weighed what yours weighs at 8wks! So there is no doubt she is tiny... she must be getting in her feathers slowly because she has the feathering of a 4wk polish too. Here is a photo of my golden laced polish at 4wks...

did you purchase her or hatch her?

 

[CHICKEN BUFF]

She looks

She appears pretty perky from the pictures but my 3wk 'small' pullet weighed what yours weighs at 8wks! So there is no doubt she is tiny... she must be getting in her feathers slowly because she has the feathering of a 4wk polish too. Here is a photo of my golden laced polish at 4wks...View attachment 1110614 did you purchase her or hatch her?

Love your golden-laced babies! Thanks for the photo for comparison!

I purchased the eggs online from a reputable breeder. They arrived very well-packed, but I knew that hatchability was still likely to be zero to 50percent at the most because of getting shaken around in the mail. I put them under a super-broody Cochin who'd been nursing ceramic eggs. She seemed to accept the real eggs just fine (I did it in the middle of the night, LOL). However, she abandoned the real eggs after a few days. So it was incubator time!

All eggs were the same size. Four eggs pipped. My little dwarf hatched all by herself, and was very active from the start. The other three died in shell within 24 hours -- when I opened the shells afterwards, they were REALLY large chicks, much bigger than my dwarf. Two were malpositioned for hatching. None of them appeared to have enough room to move to finish hatching (I wish I'd intervened now!). No "shrink wrap" of the membrane or anything like that.

So it was an atypical situation from the start - mailing, the broody hen quitting, and then being in the incubator. Enough stress to make a dozen things go wrong!