Chick not feathering out

[Onyx961]

I have a 6 week old sex link pullet. I got her and 12 others at 2 days old. All the others have grown and feathered normally. This little one is half the size of the others and still has down and very few wing feathers. She's always eating, plays with her sisters and appears healthy. She just isn't growing and still requires brooder heat where the others do not. I'm in the southeast so it is plenty warm enough for the other 12 but not this little girl. I've never seen this much of a difference with development out of the same hatch. Any ideas?

 

[lazy gardener]

Photo? I'm guessing she has a metabolic deficiency. If she is 6 weeks old, and this much delayed, I'm guessing she will never be right. Your best option may be to cull her. Or if she's a pet, resign yourself to the fact that she may be a special needs bird for her whole life, perhaps ostracised from the rest of the flock, and perhaps a disease/pathogen vector for the rest of the flock.

If you have not tried Poultry Nutri Drench, I suggest you try that, and give some to the whole flock. Also, check the mill date and protein content of your feed. Is the feed less than 6 weeks past mill date? Old feed oxidizes the nutrients out of it.

 

[Onyx961]

Is it wise to cull when she appears healthy in every other way? She is not being picked on by the others.

 

[Onyx961]

I have given poultry nutri drench to the whole flock (55 birds, including these youngest ones

 

[Onyx961]

I have given poultry nutri drench to the whole flock (55 birds, including these youngest ones

 

[Onyx961]

I have given poultry nutri drench to the whole flock (55 birds, including these youngest ones

 

[Kiki]

Can you post a photo of her next to a "normal" size one please?

 

[New2Chicks97]

Our Black Sexlink took a while to get her feathers for some reason. She and the Gold Sexlink were a week younger than our other chicks so I expected them to be a bit behind but the Gold Sexlink feathered out with everyone else while the Black Sexlink took a few weeks longer for some reason. It was cold here this spring so everyone stayed in the brooder a few weeks longer until it was warm enough for everyone to do well.

Hopefully your chick is just a bit delayed

 

[lazy gardener]

It is entirely your decision what you do with her. If you are planning to breed your own replacement birds, and you do not want to keep non productive birds in your flock, that would sway your decision towards culling (either by euthanasia, or giving her away as a pet bird with full disclosure). If you merely have a flock for "pets", and you do not mind having a bird who will most likely never be as productive as those who grew normally, then you might choose to keep her. No right or wrong decision in this matter. We all have our own flock goals, and our own husbandry methods.

I have had birds that were slow to feather in the past, but those rare birds have all caught up to their peers by the time they are 4 - 6 weeks old. My most notable bird was hatched with one entire flank that was void of down. She was an ugly chick. Truly ugly. this was my first hatch, and IMO, she "stuck" to the shell at some point during her development. She grew out well, became my most productive layer, but was a moon walker, showing signs of neurological "issues" during stressful times (cold weather, molting). I treated her with PND, and she always stopped the moon walking after the PND until the next time it started.

And I currently have some chicks that are smaller than their peers, but they are making nice size gains. I will be removing some from my flock simply to keep my numbers where I want them, so... their growth rates will enter into my culling decisions.