Not an emergency, but need some advice

[AccidentalFarm]

I have an 8 wk. old cochin chick that had had a problem with her vent when she was about 5 1/2 to 6 wks. old. I don't know what happened to her, but one day her vent was...well, I guess it was just pushed out, or inside out, or inverted..i'm not sure how to explain it. She had been perfectly fine, never ill, nor was she the lowest bird in the flock order, so again, I don't know what caused it. The other birds zeroed in on it quick and did start to peck at her vent.
Anyway, she's been in a separate cage next to the other chicks her age since it happened. She appears healthy- eats and drinks and moves around just fine. She's perky and active. She never showed signs of being ill in any way. The vent has almost completely healed now-it's sticking out a little still but I think should be fine in another week or so. The problem is that she is only about half the size of her 'siblings'.
My question is, now that she is almost back to normal, what can I do to help her grow so that she will be closer to the other girls in size when she is re-introduced to the flock? She has only ever gotten medicated chick starter and water- nothing else other than ACV and a little yogurt here and there. Should I start her on a higher protein ration, such as for turkeys? Or, maybe add some ground catfood to her starter? Any ideas?

I also wonder (besides what caused this), what is going to happen when she starts laying. I'm terrified that she'll re-invert her vent when it comes time to lay an egg.

 

[Pekin Hen]

Well, start by giving her a higher protein than the normal starter and a lot of bugg's.

Annette.

 

[LaMamaGallina]

I advise variety on her food, too much protein can be dangerous. One of my guinea keets got a bone disease which deformed one of her legs because of too much protein, I fed her gamebird starter grower and the vet told me that the feed caused the bone disease. Be careful on what you feed the bird, I've become a very careful chicken nutritionist since my keet had the problem, my husband and I spent hundred of dollars trying to fix the keet's leg, we made various visits to the vet and then decided for surgery, but my baby did not make it. I was so ignorant! if I had known I would have fed her a balanced diet, not just the starter grower feed.

 

[dlhunicorn]

get a good poultry supplemental vitamin such as aviacharge 2000 (a complete supplement sold online through McMurry or Stromberg) or failing that one of the Rooster Booster supplements that many feed stores carry. Offer yogurt (free choice-the live culture one not the desert/flavored kind) and you can also add a bit of cooked oatmeal to the feed as this will aid in digestion and uptake of nutrients from the feed...