6 weeks no body feathers????

[Keri]

I have 5 babies, all 6 weeks old, all fully feathered except one. This sweet little thing had a difficult hatching, compared to the rest, took 24 hours. She is much smaller than the others and she has the largest parents. Her mom is a black sex-link and dad is half golden laced cochin, half silky/cochin mix. Interesting lineage we have here on our farm. She has wing feathers and it looks like she is wearing shorts on her legs, that is it. The rest is fuzzy. Do I need to be concerned about this little pumpkin?

I will try to get pics of her and post them.

Thanks!

 

[Omran]

Quote:
i think she will be fine especially that the cold weather is gone by now.

 

[lux_interior]

yeah, I think she'll do ok too.... it might be all the cochin either... I've noticed with my cochin that she feathered out much slower than the rest.... good luck

 

[cybercat]

If she is so much smaller than the other I would put her with one other chick in another brooder by themselves. That way you know she is getting enough food. I am betting she is getting pushed away from the feeder. You might want to watch them fora half hour after feeding new food to see if that is the problem. With her breeding I would not thin she would be that small still even with the slow groth of the cochin.

 

[Auntbeast]

I have a little pullet about that age that is a Light Brahma. All of her former flockmates (RIP) were feathering out beautifully. This one however, just recently has wing feathers and no real body feathers, just fluff. She is a lone chicky now (until tomorrow) so there is no chance she isn't getting to the food. She was also the darkest chick of the bunch.

What is going on with the no body feathers? Anyone had one grow up and be ok?

 

[Keri]

Thank you for the replies. She has always been smaller than the others, yet came from the largest egg. They have never been in a brooder, just under a momma. Nugget decided to go broody after everyone left their egg for the day in the nest. So they are all different kinds with some very interesting mixes going on here. Anyway, I have seen her get her fill of food, she is a feisty one and does a lot of pushing brothers and sisters out of the way! I just wasn't sure of the long term outlook for her. I hope she grows feathers and lives a long healthy happy life! And if she doesn't grow feathers, well, then I will have a house chicken in the winter!

 

[TXmom]

My Sizzle was very slow to feather...all my other chicks were feathering out nicely, body and all, and he was an UGLY scraggly thing. Now he's beautiful

Here's one of his ugly baby pics:

 

[Keri]

TXmom: I think that is a beautiful baby!!! Mine looked similar but had full wing feathers.

Sadly....on Saturday we spent all day out in the field with the chickens, ducks, and horses. We took a break for about 15 minutes and in that time, our naked baby disapeared. After an extensive search we believe something came in and got her. I was and still am devastated. She was the only baby we have ever gotten out of my favorite chicken, Big Mama. Luckily, we had 2 hens go broody after Big Mama and Silver laid their eggs on Saturday. The broody girls are sisters and share the responsibilities of sitting and raising babies. I hope and pray that Big Mama's egg is fertile and I get a second chance at having one of her babies.

RIP Little Naked Baby!

 

[LeghornLisa]

I am so sorry...I hope you hatch a new baby soon...

 

[Keri]

Thank you. Even sadder.....I just found her....drowned in the duck water. I am so angry with myself....totally preventable.