Feathers sticking up, sick chick?

[gbartha]

This is sparkles. She is a barred rock mix (BR roo/unknown hen). Her feathers are sticking up. She is the only chick of my 6 that are doing that. She also was very weak when she was born and had sticky butt. She's pretty small compared to the rest. Any ideas?

Edited to add that she is 3 weeks old.

 

[Gresh]

Hi there!

You mentioned that she was sickly and had pasty butt when she was younger...is she still acting sickly now, or does she seem to be perky?

The feathering looks like she may have a little of the frizzle gene, which is completely harmless and causes a chicken's feathers to grow in the opposite direction that they normally do. Frizzled chickens are becoming more popular in the poultry shows, as I understand.

I once had a chick that contracted a minor infection of coccidiosis when she was little, and she was (and still is) smaller than her siblings, but she made a full recovery otherwise and remains one of my healthiest chickens. So her size difference may be nothing to really worry about. However, if she is acting sickly now, it could be any number of issues.

Let us know if she develops any new symptoms. Hope this has been helpful!

~Gresh~