8 week old Chocolate Orpington Chicks - PICS and questions...

[skyknight29]

Hi everyone, this is my first posting so I hope it goes smoothly.

I'm new in having Chocolate Orpingtons and so I have a few questions:

First of all, I bought these 3 chicks, straight run, from a small, local, licensed hatchery and she said that they are purebred Chocolate Orps. and that their parents both look chocolate (so no Black orps, or Chocolate/Splits). I've had them for about 3 weeks now and the two that are feathering up nicely (one pullet, one cockerel, I think) look very dark, almost black, so my question is; is this normal? And will they lighten up in color?

Second, the one (cockerel, I think) that is not feathering up well is WAY behind the other two in the feathering process... is that normal, or should I be worried?

ANY INFO ON CHOCOLATE ORPINGTONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATE!

P.S. I included pictures of all three of them:

Possible Cockerel #1

Possible Cockerel #1

Possible Cockerel #1

Possible Cockerel #1


Pullet:

Pullet:

Pullet:

Pullet:


Possible Cockerel #2

Possible Cockerel #2

Possible Cockerel #2 (feathering up very slowly)

 

[nicole camp]

Cockrel #2 is not feathering normally. How old are these birds?

 

[subhanalah]

Looks like feather picking.

 

[skyknight29]

It's not feather picking, I've been watching him very closely. He's just not growing his feathers in very quickly. I know that Black Orps are slow to feather up, and that Chocolate Orps are ever SLOWER to feather up, but this just doesn't seem normal to me. I mean the fact that the other 2 have most of their feathers and he doesn't.

 

[subhanalah]

What kind of food are you feeding them? How big is their brooder? Do you still have heat on them?

 

[skyknight29]

Cockrel #2 is not feathering normally. How old are these birds?

I know, he doesn't look right, does he. They'll be 8 weeks old in 4 days (April 12th).

 

[skyknight29]

What kind of food are you feeding them? How big is their brooder? Do you still have heat on them?

I'm feeding them chick starter mash. Their brooder is about 1.5' W x 5' L, and all of the other chicks I've started off in their have grown up beautifully, so I don't think it's the feed or the brooder. And I recently took the heat off of them but my house stays a consistent 70 degrees. I don't know what to do at this point. I paid $20/chick, and the hatchery is about a 6 hr drive round-trip, but I'm wondering if I should contact the breeder who sold them to me and ask her what might be wrong, and maybe if I can get a refund for him. Or maybe I should just wait and see if he feathers up? What do you think?

 

[subhanalah]

Maybe they have just been too warm. The amount of feathering looks like my r week old chicks. My 7 week old chicks look like chickens, lol.

May as well call the breeder and ask, maybe they have some wisdom or something that can help you?

 

[nicole camp]

I would contact the breeder. This seems to be either nutrition issues or genetics. I don't see anything wrong with the feed and the other birds are feathering fine, so I'm going to go with genetics. Often with rare breed chickens people end up breeding the genetics too closely. It's not just the feathers that look strange on this chick, it's also its face. It seems a little off on the second picture shown.

 

[skyknight29]

It probably is related to genetics...that was my first thought, too. I'm not looking forward to calling the breeder, but I guess I'll just have to suck it up and do it anyway. Thank you for your help, both of you!!