No feathers on the back???

[PrudentPrepper]

I have 49 rhode island reds and black jersey giants together in a brooder. They are 6 weeks old right now and are fully feathered except for about half of them that have a spot that covers half their back on the lower side where they only have their pin feathers growing in. You can tell feathers are starting to come in, but they just look wrong with this big spot on their back that is so under developed compared to the rest of their body. Some also have spots under their wings as well. I have them inside still and am just now weaning them off the lights (around 16 off/8 on). I was thinking it was because their wings covered those spots most of the time and those spots were warmer than the rest of the body - thus no need for feathers to form due to warmth. I'm just making sure this is normal? They don't appear to have mites or bugs crawling on them... I will take pictures tomorrow as well. Thanks for any help. BTW - I have 41 other chickens that are 8 weeks old in another brooder and they are fully feathered. They did not exhibit the same bald spots from what I can remember. They were from another breeder - if that matters. Other than age and source they have been in an almost identical environment.

 

[GitaBooks]

I've found that some of the larger breeds seem to feather out differently then smaller breeds. For example, my Andalusian and Leghorn are nearly fully feathered, while the Brahmas and Cochin of the same age are still only really feathered on their wings and tail.

My Dorking


My Delaware


My speckled Sussex (all exhibit somewhat different feather growth patterns)

 

[PrudentPrepper]

Thanks. It does seem to be mostly the black jersey giants that are affected and a few of my rhode island red roosters

 

[PrudentPrepper]

Not from my chickens -- which are sleeping right now.
This is what their entire lower backs look like though. Some pin feathers are more developed than others, but they don't seem to be growing all that fast.

 

[PrudentPrepper]

Kind of blurry, but you get the picture. The lower half of the back is bare except for the pin feathers. Most of the time the wings cover the spot... Most of the other black jersey giants look like this too.

 

[GitaBooks]

It could be feather picking, which is fairly common in brooder chicks. I hope this link helps: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/03/chicken-feather-loss-cannibalism-causes.html