featherless chick?

[nykipep]

i have 5 chicks about 9 or ten weeks old, all are doing very well, growing, look good etc.. except one. it is small and skinny and has no feathers on its back or at the base of its neck. not sure if i have male or females yet. is the chick sick and how do i tell if my chicks are hens or roos?

 

[mmaddie's mom]

don't know but let me bump this up.
Anyone?

 

[ekemily]

could just be a runt and is maturing slower than the others. they could be pecking on him. Do you have any pics?

 

[Finn's Mom]

Or it could be a rooster! Post some pictures, especially of the area where you think the feathers should be and are not, and with your other chicks for comparison.

 

[Hollywood Chickens]

Do you know the breeds?

 

[nykipep]

i do not know the breed, 2 are white one is brown and 2 are black, the one i'm worried about is black, i'll post pic's tomorrow for comparison
there are some feathers trying to come in but the chick has some bare spots on its wings too, it seems a little slower than the other chicks too, they come right to me and follow me right out to their coop in the evening and all seem to know the routine (they are free-range) they stay around and they are really cool but the little one stays back and always gets lost on the way to the coop and then looks around and peeps until i coax her with food, we thought maybe it was just a runt and not as clever as the others... hmm
thanks for the posts

 

[nykipep]

one more thing, the other chicks don't seem to pick on her/him when they are out, is it possible that they peck at it in the coop? we started with 6 chicks and the very first night one didn't make it, my husband found it and said it looked like it had been trampled...

 

[nykipep]

pic's look like the post labeled "whats wrong with his feathers" on this page

 

[Hollywood Chickens]

Quote:
It is more likely it had died from a internal reason and was THEN trampled.