Brittle feathered Polish

[LateBirdFarms]

Okay, so my attempts to get pictures has been spoiled by the fact my polish roo is a total spaz who acts like you're pointing a gun at him anytime you look in his direction so I'm going to do my best to explain the problem until I can sneak a shot of him.

My lone surviving buff laced polish (turned out to be male, of course) has feathers that snap off at the quill, the feathers themselves are very hard and dry feeling, like dry leaves, they even make the dry leaf rustle when he fans them. His wing and tail feathers are the worst, and it looks like I've cut them with scissors. No bald spots, no picking, they just break. When his first set of feathers came in, some of his wing feather quills was cork screw curly so I was aware something was up, no frizzing, but they weren't breaking like this either. He's 6 months now and the feathers he has are straight again but I'm hoping someone has an idea to help fix this issue. The guy I got him from says he's has never has a frizzle in his breeding program, and this chick was from his award winning trio. Of course there's always a chance he's being less than truthful but I don't know what that would gain him. He's on an all flock, and I feed extra protien in the fall in the form of scrambled eggs and mealworms. Otherwise he's beautiful and healthy, like I said it looks like i took a pair of scissors to him, not that he has a health issue.

I wanted to rehome this guy, since I have no breeding plans that include a polish, but I don't want to hand him off unless I can tell the new owner what they're getting. If I can find a solution, even better.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Can I see a picture? He sounds like a frazzle, but you said his feathers aren't frizzled

 

[LateBirdFarms]

As soon as I can get him calm again, I'll sneak a pic, no promises on quality, like I said, he's a total over aware nutjob of a bird. Takes his job of keeping everyone else on their toes very seriously. I would have guessed the frizzle/frazzle issue too, but I've never seen it expressed with no frizzle to the feather.

I might actually have a picture of him with his weird corkscrew wing feathers when he was younger, I'll see if I can dig one up. I only have a few hundred chicken pics to sort through!

 

[LateBirdFarms]

He's not feeling very cooperative. But I did my best to sharpen the semi blurry shot of his butt as he hightailed it out of there. Most of his tail feathers have snapped off so they're about 2" long, with the same straight cut looking edge. I did get a semi decent shot of his pathetic crest though. His feathers have also had a ridiculously hard time of losing their sheathing. Since he's my only polish, I thought maybe this might be common, the crest thing, I mean, but now I'm thinking it might be related? I didn't have anything to compare his development with, but shouldn't his crest be fully floofed (technical term!) by now?
I've done mite and lice checks, with no issues found, no sign of parasites but

All of my other chickens are beautifully feathered, incredibly cuddle me soft, I've never had such issues before, so I don't even know where to start with him. His lacing is absolutely terrible and not at all defined other than on the right shoulder and breast. The only other thing I've noticed is he never seems to get into the whole dust bathing thing like any other chicken I've ever had. He'll throw himself into one of the previously dug dust holes and do a quick flop around but not like the others, it's like he's got better things to do. Despite being a total spastic flake, I've got a soft spot for him after I lost his brooder mates to a sudden summer cold snap and a malfunctioning heating plate, but that being said, his name is Dudley since he's been my dud bird for all his nonsense.

And he's actually just over 4months, not 6, I was looking at the wrong notes on a different batch of chicks. Couldn't find a previous pic without him being a moving blur except for a chick pic.

 

[LateBirdFarms]

Looking at some other google images, maybe it's just the breed, and I'm paranoid and just not used to them. His feather condition looks like a common issue now that I've actually taken a peek at other roos.

 

[SBFChickenGirl]

How old is he? In weeks? Usually chickens get their gender specific feathering at 12 weeks. Maybe new feathers are coming in?

Not sure what else. Hopefully you find a solution!

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

Looking at some other google images, maybe it's just the breed, and I'm paranoid and just not used to them. His feather condition looks like a common issue now that I've actually taken a peek at other roos.

I used to breed polish and I’ve never seen this - it may be okay, but I don’t think it’s a breed quirk.
He looks otherwise perfectly fine, I dunno what it is

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Not a breed trait. Personally I wouldn't breed him

 

[LateBirdFarms]

Not a breed trait. Personally I wouldn't breed him

Absolutely not on a breeding list, he's got no desirable traits I'm looking for.

 

[LateBirdFarms]

I used to breed polish and I’ve never seen this - it may be okay, but I don’t think it’s a breed quirk.
He looks otherwise perfectly fine, I dunno what it is

Since you used to breed them...Is it normal for his crest feather sheaths to be so stubborn? He's almost 16weeks old at this point and most of his poof is still filled with unfluffed feathers