chick not looking good-feathers not right-lying around

[SuziQ991]

I have 7 four week old chicks. One RIR is looking sick. Its feathers look like they are falling out or maybe just not coming in right. The rest of the chicks look great. If I can figure out how I will attach pics. I am feeding medicated chick starter. I have had them for 2 weeks now. Just in the last two days have I noticed him looking different. It never had much of tail feathers. I keep them in the coop at night with no heat but it has been very warm here and the coop is well built and no drafts. I have been letting them out for short periods of time in the run. It is all grass. It is hard to tell in the pics but look by his neck and under his wings. Also he/she picks at his feathers all the time. I looked for mites and saw none. Any help would be appreciated. Should I remove him/her from the others?

 

[SuziQ991]

Here is another pic of him/her.

here is a pic of the others for comparison.

 

[AngelzFyre]

Welcome to BYC!

Is he eating and drinking like the others?
It looks to me like it's a roo first of all, besides looking like gawky baby ostriches, they are always slower to feather out and mature. That could be some of the problem you're seeing.
You can put some DE in there for them to dust in or dust him with Sevin Dust just to make sure he doesn't have any bugs if he's picking at his feathers a lot.
We keep one of those horse feeder pans that are made of black rubber in each coop filled with DE and I put it in all the nest boxes and under the shavings when we clean and replace them. Never had any problem with mites when using this.
You can also boost him a bit by giving him the PolyViSol infant vitamins, withOUT iron, 3 drops along his beak for a week and then gradually decrease the dose as you see him improving and I also give plain yogurt with active cultures either mixed with a bit of their starter or mixed with some scrambled eggs that I've cooked and cooled for them.
This helps their intestinal tract build up the healthy flora as well as help build their immune systems.

You may just have to get him up a couple times a day and give him a bit of this extra care to help him get over this hump.
Most perk right up.

Hope this helps

 

[BantyRooster]

It looks OK to me. I'd say it's a roo and its normal for it to feather in slower than the others, especially the tail feathers. Under his wings will be last to feather in.

In the top pic he looks like he's just sunning himself. His posture is alert otherwise. His head isnt drooping and his wings arent hanging, normal signs of a chick not feeling well.

Are you sure he's picking his feathers and not preening them?

Is he eating and drinking?

 

[SuziQ991]

He probably is preening because I have not see any feathers flying about. He is eating and drinking fine. I just gave them plain yogurt and he ate that well. It makes sense that a roo would develop different than the rest. I just got excited that he looked different. Can you tell I am a newbie

. I will watch him for the next couple of days, if he is still looking bad I will get the infant drops. Thanks for the info. I guess I need to relax. Well that is one roo I have so far out of seven. Maybe I will post pics of the others in the "What breed/sex" section and see how many more I have. Thank you again, I was scared!