it hatched like this and is over two weeks old now and has no feather growth at all on the bald bits. they're on both sides of the neck. makes the poor wee thing look a bit mangy but other than that doesn't seem to bother it at all. just wondering if it's anything i should be worried about and if it will be likely to be like that forever? can picture myself putting suncream on it's neck in summer or something if it will be...
Nope! Just going through an awkward stage. This is the part where the precious adorable fluffy butt disappears and the scrawny gawky buzzard-looking thing shows up in its place! Don't worry! It will get better! Shelly
Samething with one of mine except that her down was burnt completely off from the brooder at the feed store. I took her in and she eventually got all her feathers. I agree with the post above. I think its similiar to a teenager going through puberty. LOL.
my Marans was the same exact way! and i was worried too. but she's 8 months old now and is beautiful!
haha thanks for replies. part of me was kind of hoping it'd be a funny looking one with bald bits forever i think but probably best it's not going to be like that
As others have stated the bald bits are natural. Actually - a chicken (or any bird) is not feathered on every part of their body. They have patches of skin without feather follicles but we humans normally do not see the area because the surrounding feathers cover the area. The area you are seeing is a naural skin area - as the stubby new feathers grow, they will overlap the bald area.
