Funky feathers not coming in

[Fridamae]

Hi all,

I am a new chicken mama and I have a question about one of my chicks. She is a 12 week old Rhode Island Red, we call her Sandy, and the feathers on her back look funky and her skin is irritated. All the other Rhodies got their feathers before Sandy and have had them for a while now. She was the smallest of a big group, but did not seem to get picked on by the other chickens. I have seen her messaging with her back as well at times but today was a big change in the redness around the feathers that appear to be trying to come in, but are eitheir slow or not coming in right?? I am just at a loss as to what might be the issue. She is eating fine and appears to be ok otherwise. Any ideas as to what might be happening would be helpful. Thanks

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

What do you feed?
How much space do you have and how many chicks? (photos)

The feathers looks broken and some plucking is going on as well.

Do they have a large space with places to get away from one another and dirt that they can dust bath in?

 

[Fridamae]

Thank you for responding…. We have 10 total chicks, 6 Rhode island red hens and four of we are not sure, however those four are very docile. Our coop is 8 foot by 4 foot wide, however they have a huge free ranging area that we just began letting them out in all day a couple days ago. Before that, they were in the coop and a small run. They have been outside now for a total of two weeks. We are still feeding them Nutrea chick starter feed. They have plenty of space to dust bathe in as well.

 

[Fridamae]

Oh and the girls are 10 weeks old….not 12!!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Try applying a little NuStock cream on her back, this may deter some of the picking.

 

[Nicci0110]

Mine started plucking their feathers when we moved them to the coop too. Also rhode island reds. As soon as we allowed them to free range in the day it stopped.

 

[Fridamae]

Thank you all for the information and feedback, I will get some cream for her and hopefully she will stop picking now she’s free ranging during the day!!