runt or not

[Rhasputin]

I have one that is small mouse size that is eating and getting around. I just noticed him two weeks ago and started giving him apple sauce consistency rat block watered down. His siblings are large weanling size. Because this little guy is eating on its own do you still think its cruel to keep him around? There is obviously something wrong with him, but he comes running to the front of the bin every time I open it. Kinda look forward to seeing him every day.

Think he is suffering and I should cull?

It's hard to say. But generally, if the rat is that far behind, there is either something wrong with them that is causing it, or it's fallen very far behind in development from not getting the proper nutrition, and either way, it's not going to be a good idea to raise it.

There are no situations I can think of, that would be good to keep them alive. A lot fo people like to raise them, and 'give them a chance at life' but really, by keeping a sick animal alive, it's continuing to suffer, and though you're keeping it alive, there is still something wrong with it. Almost all runts die early, even if they make it to weaning. If they don't die from malnutrition, the stunted growth effects them later (in ways we might not be able to see, such as organ failure, or malformations).

For breeding, it would be bad to keep a runt, wether you're breeding for pets, feeders, or show, because of their health problems. And as far as feeders go, you'd think 'more pups' is better. But if there is one sick pup taking away nutrition from the other non-runt pups, then you run the risk of making more sick pups by not taking away the sick one, who's still taking away nutrition, but not going anywhere with it.