BrickHouseFarm
In the Brooder
- Jun 20, 2020
- 5
- 5
- 11
Hi everyone. I've got a brood (clutch? Flock?) Of a dozen 4 week old Cochins that should be about ready to come out of the brooder shortly, but the problem I've run into is that 3 of them (3 of my 4 Partridge Cochins, specifically) have barely started to feather at all. The rest of the Cochins all have most of their feathers and look about like what 4 week old chicks should, but these 3 only have their first wing feathers and nothing else, just baby fluff everywhere else. They're roughly the same size as the rest with the exception of a few who are a good bit bigger, but they just aren't feathering.
The Partridge Cochins have been a problem for me from the start. My original order (from Murry McMurray hatchery, who I've always gotten chickens from and never had any problems with) was for 4 black female, 4 buff female, and 8 straight run Partridge (they weren't offering a just female option on the Partridge so I got the 8 straight run in hopes of getting 4 females out of it, keeping one or two of the roosters and either re-homing the others or putting the rest in with the meat birds once favorites had been selected, as I've read Cochins make a great dual purpose bird) but when they arrived 3 of the Partridge were dead on arrival, we lost another within hours, and all of remaining Partridge Cochins had to be nursed along for a few days and they were all very weak and slightly smaller than the black and buff ones. All the other Cochins were healthy and thriving and had no problems.
The 4 partridge Cochins I managed to save are all ridiculously flighty too. I'm usually really good with calming and socializing baby chicks. My last round of red productions who have been outside for over a month now actually come running to me when they see me and fly right up onto my lap if I sit down in their fence, and all the rest of the Cochins as well as the polish chicks I got at the same time are getting to be the same. They push and shove to climb up on my hand and get close to me when I reach in the brooder, don't mind being held and don't freak out when I move things around, but the Partridge ones still panic and run in circles any time I pick up their food dish to fill it out their waterer, and they will not come near me.
I just think it's odd. I'm wondering if they're suffering from something like failure to thrive or something like that. They don't seem to be in any pain and behave totally normally the rest of the time. They eat and drink just as much as the others, already climb up on their tiny roost with the others and run around and play like the rest when I'm not with them (I have a small security cam on them so I can check in without going down to the brooder sometimes) but yeah, just super skiddish and almost no feathers.
The lack of feathering is really the big problem. It's sad that they don't like me but as long as they're healthy that's all I care. But with them not having feathers, I've had to leave one heat lamp down lower at one corner so they can still get under it when they want but the rest of the chicks can sleep in other cooler parts of the brooder. These 3 are always huddled up under it to sleep, so I can't even think about moving them outside yet, where the rest are feathered enough that I'd normally be working on acclimating them to that. I'm just not sure what to do about these 3. I'm thinking of moving them to another smaller brooder I have set up as kind of a hospital wing, so to speak (I always keep it ready just in case I get sick or injured chick) so I can keep them at a comfortable temp but get the rest ready to go outside.
Sorry that got so long. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this kind of feathering issue in chicks this age before. I've been raising a couple rounds of meat birds every summer for a few years now, but this is the first time since I was a kid that we've had layers and just for fun birds on the farm. In all my time rearing chicks I've never seen them totally fail to feather. It's just super weird. I'll try and attach a picture of one of the non feathered next to a normal black Cochin as well as a picture of the one Partridge that is feathering normally.
The Partridge Cochins have been a problem for me from the start. My original order (from Murry McMurray hatchery, who I've always gotten chickens from and never had any problems with) was for 4 black female, 4 buff female, and 8 straight run Partridge (they weren't offering a just female option on the Partridge so I got the 8 straight run in hopes of getting 4 females out of it, keeping one or two of the roosters and either re-homing the others or putting the rest in with the meat birds once favorites had been selected, as I've read Cochins make a great dual purpose bird) but when they arrived 3 of the Partridge were dead on arrival, we lost another within hours, and all of remaining Partridge Cochins had to be nursed along for a few days and they were all very weak and slightly smaller than the black and buff ones. All the other Cochins were healthy and thriving and had no problems.
The 4 partridge Cochins I managed to save are all ridiculously flighty too. I'm usually really good with calming and socializing baby chicks. My last round of red productions who have been outside for over a month now actually come running to me when they see me and fly right up onto my lap if I sit down in their fence, and all the rest of the Cochins as well as the polish chicks I got at the same time are getting to be the same. They push and shove to climb up on my hand and get close to me when I reach in the brooder, don't mind being held and don't freak out when I move things around, but the Partridge ones still panic and run in circles any time I pick up their food dish to fill it out their waterer, and they will not come near me.
I just think it's odd. I'm wondering if they're suffering from something like failure to thrive or something like that. They don't seem to be in any pain and behave totally normally the rest of the time. They eat and drink just as much as the others, already climb up on their tiny roost with the others and run around and play like the rest when I'm not with them (I have a small security cam on them so I can check in without going down to the brooder sometimes) but yeah, just super skiddish and almost no feathers.
The lack of feathering is really the big problem. It's sad that they don't like me but as long as they're healthy that's all I care. But with them not having feathers, I've had to leave one heat lamp down lower at one corner so they can still get under it when they want but the rest of the chicks can sleep in other cooler parts of the brooder. These 3 are always huddled up under it to sleep, so I can't even think about moving them outside yet, where the rest are feathered enough that I'd normally be working on acclimating them to that. I'm just not sure what to do about these 3. I'm thinking of moving them to another smaller brooder I have set up as kind of a hospital wing, so to speak (I always keep it ready just in case I get sick or injured chick) so I can keep them at a comfortable temp but get the rest ready to go outside.
Sorry that got so long. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this kind of feathering issue in chicks this age before. I've been raising a couple rounds of meat birds every summer for a few years now, but this is the first time since I was a kid that we've had layers and just for fun birds on the farm. In all my time rearing chicks I've never seen them totally fail to feather. It's just super weird. I'll try and attach a picture of one of the non feathered next to a normal black Cochin as well as a picture of the one Partridge that is feathering normally.
