Feather-related brooder issue - anyone else with naked backed chicks?

[Life is Good!]

Hello all!

Got a wierd question....my 4 - 5 wk old chicks were obtained from a very reputable source - but they were in a brooder for about 5 days too long. Of my 11 chicks, 6 have missing feathers from their backs (usually between ribs to a bit above the tail). Their legs got too tall (!) and they were scraping their backs against the top of their metal brooder.

The feather 'ends' are still present in the skin, but not the fluffy insulating bit which is the feather itself. Will these little ones be 'bare backed' until their first molt, or will the feathers grow back?

Here's my white (roo)?'s back


Here's one of my black's back


These would have been their 'adult' feathers....although a couple of them still have downy heads. So cute this teen-age gangly stage! But not if they're 1/2 naked!

Thank you for your help!

(edited to add images now that I found my camera's USB cord)

 

[gritsar]

Hi

Do you have any pics? Lack of feathering can also be a sign that you have yourself some baby roos.

If the system won't let you post pics - it sometimes won't let newbies - PM me and I'll see what I can do about posting the pics for you.

 

[Life is Good!]

Yep, I know I have some roo's in the bunch - along with some pretty dominate hens - but both roos and hens are affected by the scraped-up back. Seems the "taller" ones kept bumping against the top of their former metal brooder. I'll get some pictures this afternoon and post them. I've seen the black Java's 'peck' the white Java's feathers - even to the point of pulling one out while I was watching

However, most of the feather damage is from the metal brooder.

I know pin-feathers when they grow back...(we have a parrotlet and volunteer at a pet bird sanctuary with some pretty well-picked cockatoo's and conures) but have never seen the feather broken off at the shaft (or is it the quick?). One of the hens this morning looked like these scraped off feather ends were a tad longer than yesterday - but when you have five black Java's with this issue, it's hard to remember who's who! Got to get them banded so I know who's who!

 

[gritsar]

Well to answer your original question...if the feather is gone, shaft and all it will start to grow back immediately. If the shaft is still present and it's just that the feather is broken off, it will have to wait to be replaced until a molt.

 

[Life is Good!]

Thank you for the help.

Managed to figure out image posting, so I added images if that helps anyone.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Did you check them for mites?

 

[Life is Good!]

Yep, and they're clean of mites, lice or other nasties - just 5 of the 11 have these 'scraped up' backs. Ironically, 3 are the more aggressive ones! (so chicks picking out of boredom is out too) Their brooder was more like a hoover than a brooder.

 

[NellaBean]

Looks like some sort of bullying or picking.