No feathers?

[daniduck]

Ok, so we got 5 chickies out of a hatching down at our local feed store (almost 3 months ago). I went back up there a few days ago, and they still had a few from the same hatching, in those tiny little chick pens. I couldn't believe it. They couldn't stand up all the way, and half of their feathers were missing. I couldn't stand it so I brought all five of them home. They are adjusting well, but still pretty skitish. They have joined our other chicks/pullets. My question is other than the feathers on their wings, they have almost no other feathers. Just a few on their head and belly, none at all on their back. And in my opinion their skin looks terrible. Like someone plucked them. Is there anything I can do to help their feathers grow back in or is there something to put on them? Will it just take time?

It might be that they just didn't have any room, and they should fill out better now. It just makes me so sad for the poor babies.

dani

 

[mypicklebird]

That is sad, I would give the store owner a piece of my mind! Terrible PR for their store, not caring for their birds properly.
Anyway, if they were keeping 3 mo old birds in a chick brooder- they easily could have picked each other due to stress, or even lack of food (are they the right size?) if they were neglected more than substandard housing.... They also could have just been really rubbed and scratched up from the 'low' ceiling. I would inspect them very carefully for lice/mites- treat if you see anything suspicious. If you haven't mixed them in with your other birds, I would quarantine them for at least 2 weeks in case the feather loss IS due to mites/lice. Wait until they have some good feather growth in- you also don't want your 'old' flock picking on your 'new' flock. I would offer them extra protein for a few weeks- mix in some game bird start or turkey start with their chick start , or even something like cat food/scrambled eggs, ect. They will need extra protein for the feather growth.

 

[mypicklebird]

one other thought- do you know what breed they are supposed to be? Hopefully you do not have someone's culled double frizzles- which might look like a mostly featherless bird with some broken ones left.

 

[daniduck]

They are rir, plymouth rocks, and ee (which they had billed as americanas and I had to tell them that they definately weren't). They don't seem to have any mites and or lice, they just so sad looking. As far as size, they are actually a little bigger than mine, but they don't look near as nice. I think being outside in the grass has done wonders for them.I kept them out about a week, and then added them to my little flock a couple of days ago. They seem to get along just fine with each other, but they are still very skitish with me. Of course I'm not surprised since the guy who boxed them up for me, I walked in to find him, getting them out with a butter fly net, and just beating the crap out of them trying to catch them. It made me so mad, and I know I can't go and rescue all of the birds they sell from now on, but I had to get these five, because they were out of the same bunch as my orginal birds, and all I could think was what if Weeds or Red or one of the others hadn't been grabbed, and was still there, and they are sweeties.

Anyway, thanks for the help.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Some birds have a slow feathering gene, and other birds as a whole develop slowly. I seriously doubt that they were ill treated just because they were not feathering in as you expected. Lice or mites, however I would NOT rule out. Not seeing them does not mean that they are not present. Many are microscopic or nearly so. A double gened frizzle is unlikely to have issues with initial feathering--it is adult feathers that can have issues, not ungrown feathers.

 

[suburbanminifarm]

Bless you for being so kind - hearted!!!!!

 

[daniduck]

I understand that birds feather differently, but none of our original birds look anything like this. Take a look a Fifi here, and she's got the most feathers of all! Her back looks so rough and dried out, and almost spiney with the last bit of feather in places, a few of the birds have no feathers at all but wing feathers.