Lavender Orpington Runt?

leeleebird

In the Brooder
Mar 28, 2022
7
3
11
Connecticut
Hi, new chick mom here! I have 2 lavender orpington chicks that I picked up from a local farm on 3/19, and they both are much smaller compared to the Olive Eggers/Barred Rocks/Buff Orpington chick that I got the same day same place. I was told they were all around 3 days old when I got them but both of the lavender girls are feathering much more slowly and have been smaller since day 1. They are eating, drinking, and pooping completely normally along with the others.

Are some breeds just smaller? They utilize the heat plate more frequently than the rest, but I figure thats due to their size, and they are still socializing in the mix. How/when will I know if they are runts or FTT and is there anything to do at this stage? They have pretty similar growth to each other, but seem very behind when compared to the size and feathering of the other breeds. I had been giving them a mixture of egg yolk/crumble in hopes to bulk up their nutrition and sprinkled Nutri-Drench onto that treat today - they all like to eat together but I figured it wouldn't hurt the rest.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0506.jpg
    IMG_0506.jpg
    34.8 KB · Views: 18
  • IMG_0497.jpg
    IMG_0497.jpg
    34.5 KB · Views: 9

Chapmangc1

Chirping
Oct 9, 2021
44
264
74
I got two Lavender Orpington chicks along with two other breeds and they were smaller than my two Wyandotte chicks, but the same size as my Sapphire Gem chicks, so I wouldn’t worry to much about their size compared to the others. They grew up the same as the others and mine are the same size as my Wyandotte chickens. I hope this helps!!
 

leeleebird

In the Brooder
Mar 28, 2022
7
3
11
Connecticut
I got two Lavender Orpington chicks along with two other breeds and they were smaller than my two Wyandotte chicks, but the same size as my Sapphire Gem chicks, so I wouldn’t worry to much about their size compared to the others. They grew up the same as the others and mine are the same size as my Wyandotte chickens. I hope this helps!!
That does help to know, thank you!
 

Chickchick121

Chirping
Dec 26, 2021
48
30
51
We got a lavender orpington and it looks just like yours. She is much smaller than the rest and is feathering much more slowly. She is four weeks old.
 

Poodlemum

Crowing
Aug 26, 2021
1,396
4,162
316
Northern Utah
I have one out of four that stayed about half the size of its hatchmates. This variety in particular can carry a slow feathering gene, but mine just didn’t grow in all aspects. Turned out to be a roo anyway 😒 So it won’t stay and I don’t want it passing on those genes
 

Becky61

In the Brooder
Mar 7, 2020
8
24
36
Grafton, Vermont
I'm so glad to have found your post! I'm also a new chicken mom and have a lavender orpington that is smaller than my other 5 chicks...Americana, Olvie Egger, Buff Orpington, Silver Laced Wyandotte and Black Copper Maran. They are all about 3 weeks old (I got them at the same time) and she did appear slightly smaller compared to the others when we got her, but the size difference is more dramatic now. I've been watching her closely and she acts perfectly fine. She does seem to spend more time under the heater, which makes sense. I've been watching carefully to make sure she isn't getting bullied by the others and so far I don't feel that she's being singled out.
 

leeleebird

In the Brooder
Mar 28, 2022
7
3
11
Connecticut
I'm so glad to have found your post! I'm also a new chicken mom and have a lavender orpington that is smaller than my other 5 chicks...Americana, Olvie Egger, Buff Orpington, Silver Laced Wyandotte and Black Copper Maran. They are all about 3 weeks old (I got them at the same time) and she did appear slightly smaller compared to the others when we got her, but the size difference is more dramatic now. I've been watching her closely and she acts perfectly fine. She does seem to spend more time under the heater, which makes sense. I've been watching carefully to make sure she isn't getting bullied by the others and so far I don't feel that she's being singled out.
It's hard to find a picture that really shows how much smaller they both were (one even more than the other), but here's a pic of my smallest girl around week 3 to give you an idea. I'm happy to report that at nine weeks old they have grown perfectly fine! My little babies :) My lavenders started to really feather out during week 4 and soon after that didn't need the heat any more than the rest.
Also thankfully no bullying when there was a big discrepancy in size either. My biggest one, an olive egger chick (same age) would actually let the smallest lavender wedge herself under her then she got scared or cold. Such good babies.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0694 2.jpg
    IMG_0694 2.jpg
    605 KB · Views: 10
  • IMG_1615.jpg
    IMG_1615.jpg
    790.8 KB · Views: 7
Last edited:

Becky61

In the Brooder
Mar 7, 2020
8
24
36
Grafton, Vermont
It's hard to find a picture that really shows how much smaller they both were (one even more than the other), but here's a pic of my smallest girl around week 3 to give you an idea. I'm happy to report that at nine weeks old they have grown perfectly fine! My little babies :) My lavenders started to really feather out during week 4 and soon after that didn't need the heat any more than the rest.
Also thankfully no bullying when there was a big discrepancy in size either. My biggest one, an olive egger chick (same age) would actually let the smallest lavender wedge herself under her then she got scared or cold. Such good babies.
Thanks for the update! Our Lavender Orpington is still much smaller than the others, but last week was week 4 and that’s also when she began feathering out.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Top Bottom