black sex link chicks

[puch]

I bought 6 black sex link chicks from local tractor supply, they are all black, 4 weeks old. assuming all are pullet, my concern is they all have bald back, can feather fill the skin when they are older?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Can you take photos in natural (or at least not red) light? Most likely that's just them feathering in patchy but hard to see with red.

 

[puch]

here is the picture.

 

[puch]

by the way, they have very slow feather development

 

[rosemarythyme]

Most likely they're just feathering in slow but already lost their down on the back, so it looks a bit bare for now.

 

[puch]

thanks for your input. from what I know they lost their down from
day 1

 

[rosemarythyme]

thanks for your input. from what I know they lost their down from
day 1

They should have down for the first few weeks, pretty much up until they feather in to replace it. Just some chicks lose it sooner or feather in slower.

 

[chooki]

How hot is your brooder? My observation is that occasionally chicks feather slower when it's very warm for them.

If they are 4 weeks old, your birds should be able to wandering around without extra heat source when the ambient temperature is more than 15°C/60F. If you are worried because they are not fully feathered, maybe only turn off the heat source for a short time at a time and observe whether they are too cold?

Also extra protein helps feathering. When I had my slow feathering chicks, I gave mine prawn heads, meat scraps and mixing milk in their feed to give them extra protein boost. You may also use mealworms, fish meal and other protein sources.

 

[chooki]

This was my slow feathering 7 weeks old chick:

This was her 5 months later:

 

[puch]

How hot is your brooder? My observation is that occasionally chicks feather slower when it's very warm for them.

If they are 4 weeks old, your birds should be able to wandering around without extra heat source when the ambient temperature is more than 15°C/60F. If you are worried because they are not fully feathered, maybe only turn off the heat source for a short time at a time and observe whether they are too cold?

Also extra protein helps feathering. When I had my slow feathering chicks, I gave mine prawn heads, meat scraps and mixing milk in their feed to give them extra protein boost. You may also use mealworms, fish meal and other protein sources.

thank you so much for your suggestion. the brooder is pretty warm, I thought with bald skin on the back, they will feel cold.