lack of feather development in month old chick

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Barn Maid Ann

Barn Maid Ann

Songster
14 Years
Oct 28, 2008
257
3
246
Punta Gorda, FL
I have a brood of 7 blue/lavender Orp's being raised by a hen, that are about a month old. They are all pretty normal except one who is not feathering out. It is just getting pinion feathers now, but that is all. It is one of the later hatchlings, but they all are feathering out by now, nearly covered except for their heads. Since this little guy is growing, it's down is getting to be see through thin. It acts normal in every other way - happy and healthy - just kind of naked.
Anyone ever experience this? Anything to be done? Will it catch up???
 
I wouldn't worry, boys just feather out slower
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I have at least 2 cockerals in the brood already that are feathered just like the rest. I can tell they are cockerals because their combs are developing and they spar with each other already. This one, who may be a boy, literally has NO feathers (except for some very underdeveloped pinion feathers.
I wanted to put them up for sale, but I worried about presenting them with this little guy who is so obviously different from the others.
I will wait a while to see if he hopefully catches up. I have raised broods of chicks before and never had a 4 week old with no feathers!
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I have a 10 week old Austrolorp and he has been the slowest thing to feather that I've ever seen. He's still got some bald patches with just little black dots of feathers starting to come in, but what are coming in are beautiful deep black with a greenish hue. He has certainly had a longstanding case of the uglies, but I think he's going to make up for that very soon;-)
 
Patience! I too, have a slow feathering roo..... He's breeder stock salmon fav, 3 1/2 months old and barely feathered - no tail yet! He's a little smaller than the rest of the hatchlings. I thought he'd never get feathers.....remarkable differences!
 
There is a fast feathering gene. Older strains, with more heritage background in their breeding, often are slow feathering birds. Our heritage Barred Rocks took 10 weeks to feather out, while our utility BRs feather out in 4-5 weeks. The fast feathering gene lends itself to more egg laying, as best I understand it, while the slow feathering birds often are spectacular, more true to type once they do feather out. That's just our experience, YMMV.
 

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