Bare back chick

[BMan]

Hi,

I have 26 chicks a little over 3 weeks old and all are doing great except for one breed. Not sure if they're Cuckoo Marans or Black Stars. They aren't putting out any feathers on their backs. They're otherwise very healthy and energetic chicks running around and digging with the rest of the herd. I've given everyone plenty of vitamins and have them on chick starter feed. I think it might be the C. Maran breed as I've had Black Stars before and didn't notice this behavior. Has anyone experienced this with C. Marans?

Thanks for any help.

 

[math ace]

That is Really Wierd.

Are you sure they are Cuckoo Marans?

I have never seen anything like that ! !

 

[BMan]

No, I'm not sure. The dark breeds I got were Barred Rocks, Black Stars and Cuckoo Marans. I've raised Barred Rocks and Black Stars several times in the past and have identified them in this bunch, so it's just a process of elimination. There is of course a chance that McMurray threw some wrong ones in the batch, but they've always been really good before about putting in the right breeds. I'll just keep an eye on them to make sure no one picks on them and see if feathers grow in. Maybe when the heat is off all together in another week or so, they'll realize they need to grow a suit.