Featherless chick

[NancyinAlaska]

I just posted about one I had, under pics and stories of my chickens.

 

[country]

Well, the 5 toes show that she is definitely Silkie related so she is either Showgirl or Sizzle & I'm betting on Sizzle x Sizzle breeding which sometimes results in a "Frazzle." Several things can happen with Frazzles - 1. They can be born with fewer feather follicles so will never feather in normally. This can mean sunburn in the summer & freezing during the winter, depending on how much bare skin she ends up with. 2. Many are just later maturing & may still feather in normally or at least close enough to normal that she can join the rest of the flock. 3. When molting, almost all Frazzles, whether almost normal feathered or not, will usually do close to a complete molt all at once. Most chickens will molt a few feathers at a time so they look raggedy but don't usually have bare spots. Frazzles can drop almost everything at once & look like an escapee from the plucking pile. I didn't know about the double frazzle gene when I bought some Frizzle Cochin chicks several years ago, so I ended up with a couple of Frazzled chicks from them & they went on to live normal lives since we have plenty of trees to shade from the sun & good shelter for winter. Plus, one of my turkey hens adopted them & kept them plenty toasty as they grew up. They were so ugly that they were cute! I have a picture somewhere & I'll see if I can dig it up.

Sheri/Country Silkies

 

[country]

Found the picture! Now this is really one ugly chick! However, what she lacked in beauty she made up for in personality. She was a great pet & laid a bonus of eggs besides.

Sheri - Country Silkies

 

[country]

Oops! Sorry. Here's the picture.

 

[Madcap621]

Please don't call her "Ugly"! How about "Unique"?

 

[SilverPhoenix]

I think she's cute and endearing, personally! A little funny-looking, but that's okay.

I've heard feeding Flock Raiser can help bring in feathers faster, you could maybe try that. I think she'll get the rest of her feathers in eventually, she's probably just slow-developing.

 

[Chickengal505]

Featherless chicks are so cute please don't sell her she is so interesting!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
I think Sheri is right.

And I don't think she's ugly. To me, with the face shot, she looks like a sweetheart. It's not her fault that people didn't know how to breed her properly.

 

[Legendsea]

I have one chick that is almost featherless. Is this normal. I am so upset I have put it in with the new chicks that hatched on Friday. They are 2 weeks apart in age. I had this chick in with the chicks it's own age but the feathers are not growing. Are they pulling them out? And this chick is just a little bigger than the new chicks. Boy it's the ugliest thing I have ever seen. Never had anything look like it. Seems to eat and drink. I have checked and checked for blood but cannot find any what so ever. Just wondering if I need to put something in the feed or drink. Or is this chick some sort of odd breed. It is supposed to be a sizzle I think. I just call her ugly.

She's my cat's twin sister! We call her "Sexy Stuff". There's something indescribably loveable about the unfortunate looking creatures in our lives. We'll do anything to make them shine above the rest. Our "ulgy" is hated by the other kitties, sickly, underweight, and a total pain, but if there is a cat in the whole world loved more than anything, it's her!