Feathers developing so slowly?

[AmityChick]

Hi all,

I just got my very first chicks last week, eight purebred barred rocks out of the Gilmar line. Out of the eight one is significantly behind the others in feather development, the rest all have lots of wing and tail feathers while this one has only a few little stubby wing feathers. (I’m brand new at chickens) Should I be worried about this? Or do some chicks just develop slower? Or could this mean he’s a male? The feathers that it does have seem to have thicker white bars, the other seven are all mainly dark feathered with thin white barring

 

[Mountain Bird]

That might be a male. Was it a straight run purchase or intended to be all female? I’d say you will be able to tell at 2-3 weeks with the wing pattern.

 

[linsybird]

It could be that he is male, it could also be failure to thrive. I’ve had chicks like this that didn’t make it, but I’ve also had chicks like this that just take longer to develop. I wouldn’t worry too much right now. In my experience, If a chick’s physical size is smaller than the others as they grow, then it’s more likely to be failure to thrive.

 

[AmityChick]

It could be that he is male, it could also be failure to thrive. I’ve had chicks like this that didn’t make it, but I’ve also had chicks like this that just take longer to develop. I wouldn’t worry too much right now. In my experience, If a chick’s physical size is smaller than the others as they grow, then it’s more likely to be failure to thrive.

He/She is actually one of the largest of the chicks so probably not failure to thrive? I have one that for a few days I was worried it would be a failure to thrive chick, but so far it's still growing about 4-6g a day so I'm hoping it is ok!

 

[AmityChick]

That might be a male. Was it a straight run purchase or intended to be all female? I’d say you will be able to tell at 2-3 weeks with the wing pattern.

It was a straight run purchase so it definitely could be a male, and ok lol back to the waiting game

 

[linsybird]

He/She is actually one of the largest of the chicks so probably not failure to thrive? I have one that for a few days I was worried it would be a failure to thrive chick, but so far it's still growing about 4-6g a day so I'm hoping it is ok!

That’s good! Some chicks are just slow feather growers. I have a jersey giant the only had wing feather until 4 weeks, and still hasn’t grown tail feathers at almost 8 weeks!

 

[Chicklove4ever]

As long as it poops,eats,drinks and plays it should be fine my blue laced red wyandotte was a runt.shes doing great now