Chicken growing slower?

[dominique man]

My exchequer leghorn female chick is growing much slower than the rest and has a kind of wet feather look to her. Is it even a her? I have no idea what is going on here but I am concerned as I had always thought leghorns were fast to mature. Here are some picture of her compared to a Easter egger:
These are her wing feathers

These are the EE's wing feathers

This is what I call the wet chicken look, it looks like she is soaked but she isn't wet to the touch and doesn't seem to like to hang out in the water

And if you'll look she is much smaller than the other ones which doesn't alarm me because she's the only leghorn and leghorns are smaller than other breeds.

Is this the norm for exchequers? What do you think is causing this? Is she a roo? Thanks

 

[CHICKLOVER69]

I bought 2 Barred Rock, 2 Black Ausssies, 2 RIR, and 2 Light brown Leghorns. The Leghorns are definetly smaller than the others and twice as energetic. Leghorns are some call flighty, I like to say more alert. They are friendly but wait for the others to make a move first, like hand feeding. What is the temp in your brooder. Maybe a little hot. Just a thought.

 

[dominique man]

It very well might be too hot in there for them, I'll raise the brooder lamp

 

[RonC]

Even chicks of the same breed develop at different rates. Males sometimes develop slower from what I've heard. All mine were females so no actual experience there. Trying to keep the brooder too warm is a common mistake. Depending on size of the brooder and number of chicks of course one warm area is all that is needed.

 

[dominique man]

the others are now at least twice her size. she seems to be a "runt" if that is even possible for chickens. she seems to have not grown very much at all since we got her. I had always thought that leghorns were supposed to grow much faster than other breeds? she has very small wing feathers and no sings of tail feathers. hopefully she will out grow her smallness and underdevelopment before the others start to bully her. ill keep you guys posted.

 

[kittydoc]

What I wonder is whether she is being bullied away from the food source(s) already. I had a chick like that and had to separate her for several weeks to let her get caught up. She looked like she had a neurological disease (stumbling, stepping backwards--a lot like my 85 year old mom!), but she was also very thin. She is not quite as big as her sister, but now seems to be carrying a normal body weight for her frame, and her lack of coordination is now gone. However, she is definitely low-ranking (sleeps away from her siblings and spends more time with the younger chicks), and to make matters worse, she isn't very pretty either. Sigh.

I would perhaps Google the "wet feather appearance" and see if you come up with anything. That's a new one for me. I have heard of "sticky chicks" at hatch, but that's it.

Perhaps if you can, separate her along with one other mild-mannered chick as a buddy, so it can eat in peace and try to catch up. Good luck!

 

[dominique man]

She seems to be getting food just at a different time then the others such as when they are napping under the light or looking at a bug on the other side of the brooder. She is no doubt at the bottom of the pecking order but she is the bravest around humans. Today we took them outside and and she was the first to go and explore in the grass. She is just one weird little bird

 

[brahamacocks14]

Hi can u tell me how I start a thread on backyard chickens

 

[dominique man]

Go to the desired forum and hit the start new thread button in the upper right corner