Failure to Thrive
Why is my baby bird so small?
DISCLAMIER: Im not an expert. This is based on my own experience and research.
You just got some baby chicks, ducklings or goslings. You notice one of them being alot smaller than the others, wondering whats wrong.
Even if you do everything right, sometimes you will get a baby bird that does not thrive. This is called "failure to thrive"
Failure to thirve is mostly reconised when you have birds of the same breed and age. A tiny bird will stand out in that group. They can also have a diffrent type of feathering and will not feather out as much.
Helping your baby bird thriving again can be hard, most "failure to thrive" cases will not make it. If you find the right cause and the right treatment the prognosis is good.
Causes
Bullied?
Observe your baby flock. Is your runt of the flock being bullied from the food or water? If so seperate your little runt, but DO NOT ISOLATE! Baby birds need socialisation.
Even if your little runt is not being bullied, it can still have a timid personality, that makes it not being so agressive with the food. A solution to this can be to have two feed and water stations.
Parasites
Coccidiosis are a common aliment among baby chickens. This parasite will take away the nutriens from your baby bird, but it can also damage the intestinal track. Which can lead to permanent malnutrion.
Keeping a clean brooder are a good prevention against Coccidiosis.
Another parasite are intenstinal worms that can also do the same damage. They will steal nutriens from the bird when they live in the gut of the bird.
If you suspect worms, do a fecal test to know what deworming to use.
Mites or lice can also be an issue causing "failure to thrive".
Size Issues
Their bodysize can casue other problems. If your little runt is a hen, you could imagine that egglaying will cause some issues.
- Either their body will not be adapted to start the egglaying process
- The egg will suited to the bodys size
- or the hen will become eggbound and have some serious issues passing the egg.
My chicken mentor, that has a failure to thrive case. She reports that her little runt sneeze alot and apperently this is due to under devolped nostrils.
Treatment
Even if you can not find out the reason for your baby birds "failure to thrive" its important to have a treatment plan.
Nutritious food are going to be the most crucial part. Egg and egg yolk are always the best food to give baby birds or adult ones. It contains alot of nutriens!
Give your little runt of the litter extra multivitamins, this will help boost to the growth. Always better to give it like a medication, straight into the beak (make sure that you know how!)
Supplementing with probiotics are also a good treatment plan, since the failure to thrive will most likley stem from a gut issue.
This will be outside a normal diet.
Sometimes its just mother nature, genetics. Like us, they come in diffrent shape and sizes. What I think is the most important is to give every individual a chance to thrive.
Thanks to USA Silkie Roslagen for pictures of her Iris for this article. Iris is a failure to thrive case with unknown cause. She has to today almost catched up to her sisters!