3 week old Barred rock cockerel not developing like his brothers

[linkindna]

Hi,
I have several 3-week old barred rocks in the brooder. One of them is larger than the others but he isn't feathering out as quickly. All the chicks (including the boys) have wings, tails, and many other feathers coming in. This guy barely has a tail and wings. The wing feathers are coming in a little crooked at the ends. Has anybody seen this before? If he were sickly I would expect him to be smaller than the rest. He is not only the largest boy but he is also the most energetic and goofy. (BTW, he happened to blink when I took the picture, he isn't hunched over looking ill!)

Any thoughts? Is he sick or just special?

 

[chickenpickens]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Sometimes feathers just take a while and in my experience BPR sometimes just take longer to feather and fill out. Please note that that has just been my experience from last year as I have not been doing this very long.

 

[teach1rusl]

Chicks are like babies/children - they develop differently and at diff. rates. Especially this young, as long as behavior is normal (eating/drinking/activity level), I wouldn't give it a 2nd thought. I had a part.rock pullet chick that I thought surely must be a cockerel because she was SO slow in developing/feathering out. Everyone else had tiny little tails for a good two weeks before she finally started getting tail feathers. It took her about 8 weeks to fully feather out

 

[linkindna]

Well that's a relief! I'll see how he feathers out and maybe post an update in a couple of weeks. I'm raising several cockerels to choose a new rooster for my flock, I'm thinking this little guy is not going to be a candidate.