Any ideas what's happening here? Normal?

[dmel75]

Got a few chicks from tractor supply about 3 weeks ago. 3 are supposed to be "buff Orpingtons" and they're looking kinda odd. These 3 have almost no feathers on their underside and they have pretty large feet. They also like to just lay around a lot whereas my other red pullets tend to be up and active. From the picture, does it look like this is just an "awkward phase" these birds will grow out of or does this indicate a problem? I've checked for mites (can't see any bite areas or the mites themselves) and there's no "scaly appearance" on the legs to indicate a scaly mite problem.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Cannot really tell from the photos.

The yellow legs are not something found on an Orpington. The laziness, lack of feathering, and large size is something more in common with a CX type commercial broiler chick. Just a possibility. Better photos would help. Just show the birds in their normal pose.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

It does seem rather huge for three weeks. I'm leaning toward a Cornish cross too. Super fast growth, white feathers and yellow legs.

 

[my sunwolf]

I agree. It looks like you may have been sold Cornish X instead of Buff Orps. Are they very much larger than the other chicks that are their same age?

If they are Cornish X, they will like to lie next to the food and eat, have bare spots like in the photo, and be ready for slaughter at 6-9 weeks.

 

[Cotton42]

They totally look like cornish crosses to me. A 3 week old BO would be much smaller.

 

[WickeeChickee]

Here are some pics of one of my buff orps at 3 weeks old. As you can see, almost fully feathered with white skin. FWIW I don't trust TSC as far as I can throw them after I heard them selling meat birds as layers/pets! I use local breeders instead.

 

[dmel75]

Cannot really tell from the photos.

The yellow legs are not something found on an Orpington.  The laziness, lack of feathering, and large size is something more in common with a CX type commercial broiler chick.  Just a possibility.  Better photos would help.  Just show the birds in their normal pose.

Maybe not the best pic but one of them in a standing pose...

 

[dmel75]

I agree. It looks like you may have been sold Cornish X instead of Buff Orps. Are they very much larger than the other chicks that are their same age?

If they are Cornish X, they will like to lie next to the food and eat, have bare spots like in the photo, and be ready for slaughter at 6-9 weeks. 

YES! They like to lay IN their food if they can, they are definitely MUCH larger than 3 other chicks we got the same day. I was specifically wondering about the bare spots with little to no feathers, is that normal if these are the Cornish X type?

 

[my sunwolf]

YES! They like to lay IN their food if they can, they are definitely MUCH larger than 3 other chicks we got the same day. I was specifically wondering about the bare spots with little to no feathers, is that normal if these are the Cornish X type?

Very normal for Cornish X! The weight of their bodies resting on the ground tends to discourage feather growth, not to mention they put so much of their energy into growing in size that they don't have a lot left over for growing feathers.

They will get very big very quickly, and will need to be slaughtered before 12 weeks or they can develop all sorts of health problems. Some people on here have reported good luck keeping them alive past 1 year, but I've never tried it.

 

[farmboy22]

Definitely broilers. Mine looked exactly like that. It takes a lot longer for the feathers to grow on their keel/under side.