20 day old chick: Not Growing Feathers

[bluemoonjay]

I have a 20 day old chick(hatch 6/12/17) who doesn't seem to be growing any feathers. She is a Black Jersey Giant, I have 2 the same age, one has almost all of its feathers, this one just has a few strange curled and stunted feathers on the wingtips. She only has 2 very tiny pin feathers on her back and nowhere else. She is the same size as the rest of the chicks from the hatch, eats fine, active, alert, just naked.
Anybody have any ideas about causes, or have any insights?

 

[GitaBooks]

That's strange.
Some large breeds feather out slower than the smaller breeds. She could also not be getting enough protein for her growth (though I think other chicks would be showing issues). If she remains active I wouldn't worry too much for now.
It could turn out she has a genetic issue and always has feather issues, but some chicks just hit a strange stage where they look really ugly, loosing their down and not growing feathers. Again, it tends to be larger breeds that have this issue.

Hope this helps. Keep us updated!

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I bet it's a male. They typically are slow to grow feathers compared to pullets. I've a few 8 week old cockerels that still have a bare line down the back.

 

[Molpet]

my 1/2 black jersey giants that feather like that are males

 

[bluemoonjay]

Thanks everyone. I've been doing chickens for 10 years and I've just never had a chick feather out so much slower than the rest of the group. I'll update this post with his/her progress as the feathers come in and whether it ends up being a Roo.