Silkie - Red Sexlink cross chick not getting any feathers... What do I do?

I had a silkie rooster for a while that hung out with the flock but never mated with the hens (bigger rooster wouldn't let him). Instead of the typical cotton ball look he had smooth feathers. He was super sweet, but I decided to sell him because I wanted to start breeding true to standard silkies. I found a great home for him with a person who just wanted a sweet little chicken pet, a.k.a. yard candy.

Well, I have been hatching many of our barnyard eggs for a while but never had one even remotely look like a silkie. The same was true for this adorable little chick from one of the red sexlink eggs. The little cockerel looked just like the hen when she was a chick. Then some wing feather started growing that took on the appearance of silkie feather. Ok then. My little roo managed to "tag" a hen before departing the farm. No big deal, the chick is super sweet like his dad. Well, the little chick is now 4.5 weeks old and hasn't grown any more feathers. It still has its chick fluff and a goofy looking wings.

What do I do? Is there anything I can do? He is eating and drinking and growing bigger. Even his comb has gone a beautiful bright pinkish red color. He just isn't getting his body feathers.

I doubt there's much you can do per se. However, I can see the beginnings of some other feathers coming in in some of the darker areas and along the back of his neck. You may just find that the strange genetic combination leads to slower feathering, and that the feathers which do come in may not look the way you expect. I would advise watchful waiting.

The gene that causes silkie feathering is recessive, it would not show up in the initial crossing. All offspring would be smooth feathered "split" to silkied (het silkie). I don't see anything that particularly strikes me as being silkie cross either (usually have one or more of the following traits; dark skin, dark eyes, feathering on legs, 5 toes etc). What is your other rooster? Something odd is certainly occuring but your silkie rooster is most likely innocent

This is the large, and in charge rooster. All the other chicks I have hatched from her have turned out more of a solid red with black tips. (I don't have any pictures, they were sold at a swap.) This one chick is just different.