[Thyme]

I have a trio of Miniature Silver Appleyards who went broody very quickly after I acquired them and hatched five ducklings on 8 June.  All five ducklings seem healthy and lively at now about 2.5 weeks old, but they are very different sizes.  Three are about half the size of their parents and starting to get real feathers, one is a little more than half the size of those but otherwise looks similar, and the fifth has dark markings that the others don't have and is still tiny, looking not much different than it did when it was a week old.  The tiny one eats and swims and runs around just as the others do.  Is this normal variation?  I'm wondering if the egg the tiny one came from could have been fertilised by some other drake before I got them, if there can be some time between mating and when the egg was laid?  They are a pretty small breed already though, but maybe a tiny call drake? 

[roddycm]

The duck was probably mated by a different drake before she came to you! Maybe a call duck drake. Or it could just be a runt! I had a very tiny duckling once from a pair of calls. He was born the same size as his siblings but grew to half the size. He was active and happy. Just a dwarf.

[Thyme]

Thanks Roddy!  I think my tiny one must be a dwarf like yours was.  Maybe it'll get a growth spurt at some point.