Bald chick (not feather picking)

[TwistedTayy]

I have a cockerel that was purchased from a breeder with others that, on parts of his body, it seems like his feathers just stopped coming in. There are shafts in some of the bald spots (just shafts for weeks) and some you can see shafts under the skin. Can I do anything to help him?

I have ruled out feather picking and too young to be mating. He is a blue silver Mille fleur d’uccle (Andalusian blue gene, if that means anything). 12 weeks old. Fed kalmbach non medicated starter.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

He's got a lot of pin feathers coming in.

I do see some blood where it does look like he's being picked. Bad habit. Chickens seem to find those blood feathers are tasty.

How much space do you have in your coop/run?
I assume you are feeding chick starter.

Give them more space, reduce numbers if you need to and give them something to do instead of focusing on picking the poor fella's feathers out.
A TINY bit of scratch, chopped greens or other treat tossed in the bedding can keep them busy scratching. Hang an apple or some cabbage, it's like a tether ball. Mine love it.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I have a cockerel that was purchased from a breeder with others that, on parts of his body, it seems like his feathers just stopped coming in. There are shafts in some of the bald spots (just shafts for weeks) and some you can see shafts under the skin. Can I do anything to help him?

I have ruled out feather picking and too young to be mating. He is a blue silver Mille fleur d’uccle (Andalusian blue gene, if that means anything). 12 weeks old. Fed kalmbach non medicated starter.

View attachment 3207521
View attachment 3207522
View attachment 3207523
View attachment 3207524
View attachment 3207525

What does he look like now?

 

[TwistedTayy]

What does he look like now?

I’ll take a picture when they come in for the night. It almost looks like he’s got a feather shredding gene. He just looks real sad lol. Probably not going to make the cut this season…

Eta this is the only one like this. The others he lives with are all feathered beautifully. So it has to be something genetic.

 

[TwistedTayy]

What does he look like now?

This is him. I’m not sure if the red is from feather damage or from just leakage. But the tail is real bad. He should be white with blue spots.

For reference, this is a dark blue cockerel from the same hatch above. Below is a light blue hen to show the color that the poor cockerel should have.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

View attachment 3240713This is him. I’m not sure if the red is from feather damage or from just leakage. But the tail is real bad. He should be white with blue spots.

View attachment 3240720
For reference, this is a dark blue cockerel from the same hatch above. Below is a light blue hen to show the color that the poor cockerel should have.
View attachment 3240727

It’s leakage