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Chick hatched out with "strange" down???

post #1 of 9
4/18/12 at 6:54am
Thread Starter 

Not sure if this goes here, or in the chicks section... Mods, feel free to  move it.

 

I hatched out 50 + chicks a week ago.  Only lost the one to the at the time, so we are doing good now.  They are all thriving.

 

However, one little guy has the strangest down.  It almost looks singed, or burnt????  The down is very short, and almost prickly.  his wing feathers are coming in fine, as far as I can tell, but his head, back, and neck are not fluffy like the others.  At first, I thought he just didn't fluff up correctly in the bator, but a week later, and after studying him awhile, his down is wrong???

 

Anybody know what's going on?

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post #2 of 9
4/18/12 at 8:18am

don't know, but will give you a bump!
 

mother to a wonderful 14 yr old boy,2 step children, 2 dogs-1 corgi, 1 red heeler,  1 cat and a bunch of chickens. Married to a wonderful man who puts up with my love of chickens!
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mother to a wonderful 14 yr old boy,2 step children, 2 dogs-1 corgi, 1 red heeler,  1 cat and a bunch of chickens. Married to a wonderful man who puts up with my love of chickens!
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post #3 of 9
4/18/12 at 8:24am

When you say singed, do you also mean discolored?  It could be that he hit a vein on his way out, and got some blood on his fluff.  That would turn it brown and mat it.  Maybe try to give him a gentle scrub with a warm wet washcloth?

"It's easy. You draw a red line on the ground, right? Then you wait for a chicken to come along. When he arrives, he puts his beak right on the line and he's hypnotized!"
Joey Santiago
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"It's easy. You draw a red line on the ground, right? Then you wait for a chicken to come along. When he arrives, he puts his beak right on the line and he's hypnotized!"
Joey Santiago
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post #4 of 9
4/18/12 at 8:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jakl View Post

Not sure if this goes here, or in the chicks section... Mods, feel free to  move it.

 

I hatched out 50 + chicks a week ago.  Only lost the one to the at the time, so we are doing good now.  They are all thriving.

 

However, one little guy has the strangest down.  It almost looks singed, or burnt????  The down is very short, and almost prickly.  his wing feathers are coming in fine, as far as I can tell, but his head, back, and neck are not fluffy like the others.  At first, I thought he just didn't fluff up correctly in the bator, but a week later, and after studying him awhile, his down is wrong???

 

Anybody know what's going on?



cold it be a frizzle? or sizzle? what breeds are the chicks?

 

On a new journey... rural chicken farming to urban... wish me luck!

 

 

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On a new journey... rural chicken farming to urban... wish me luck!

 

 

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post #5 of 9
4/18/12 at 9:18am
Thread Starter 

this was a mutt batch of ameraucana, EE, and hatchery RIR.  He is black, the funky down doesn't show up on pictures.  he has sparse down, and the ends of it are "burnt hair" looking, does that make sense???

 

I don't have any frizzle, sizzle(??? what are they???), or silkie in my flock (that I know of, some are from the hatchery).

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post #6 of 9
4/18/12 at 3:20pm

Sizzles are (I believe) Frizzled Silkies.  However, breeding a frizzle to a frizzle can cause feather deformities in the resulting chicks.. perhaps this is what happened with yours?
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jakl View Post

this was a mutt batch of ameraucana, EE, and hatchery RIR.  He is black, the funky down doesn't show up on pictures.  he has sparse down, and the ends of it are "burnt hair" looking, does that make sense???

 

I don't have any frizzle, sizzle(??? what are they???), or silkie in my flock (that I know of, some are from the hatchery).



 

Guess what... chicken butt!

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Guess what... chicken butt!

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post #7 of 9
4/18/12 at 4:42pm

I have had two out of about 2000 do that and I have no idea why.  They feather out normally but you are right their chick down looks singed and strange looking.  Both of mine have had a gold shiny glow to them also, but it goes away and they feather out just like the other birds.

 

Lanae

Cashs Blue Eggs : Home of the Rumpless Tufted Araucana chicken

Цыпля́т по о́сени счита́ют. - (Don't count your chicks before autumn) - especially if their Araucana
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Cashs Blue Eggs : Home of the Rumpless Tufted Araucana chicken

Цыпля́т по о́сени счита́ют. - (Don't count your chicks before autumn) - especially if their Araucana
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post #8 of 9
4/19/12 at 6:44am
Thread Starter 

Thank you all for chiming in.  I think cashdi probably had the best answer....  LOL. Happened to me too.  But IDK what caused it either, the chicken grew up fine... (LOOSELY paraphrased :) 

 

I had one hatch similar to this as well, but he has other issues and died a few weeks later. His one eye wasn't quite right, and he was just kinda lop-sided??  Not sure that makes sense.  But that's the best way to describe that chick.

 

 This one seems normal, except for the down.  His wing feathers are coming in, and I think they look normal so far.  I'll try to remember to let you know.

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post #9 of 9
3/11/13 at 12:53pm

Found this old thread while searching for an answer to why I have a chick with strange down. Its down is shiny gold and not as fluffy, more like hair. The chick acts cold and shakes all the time. Just curious what is going on. It is an Orpington chick.

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