If disaster should befall the larger chick the parent can switch to feeding the youngest and it will exhibit a constant growth curve from the day of active feeding. From Wikipedia
Depends, a repo stays on credit for 7 years, and a bankruptcy stays for 11 years, after you have paid off a debt and they have received payment it should be taken of immediately, but you may want to get a free credit report and check and if it is still there call them and ask them about it.
It can take as long as 90 days for your resolved debt to show up on your credit report and reflect on your credit score. Keep in mind though that there is no guarantee that the actions you take, like paying off debt, will immediately improve your credit score because there are so many factors affecting your score.