Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[thedragonlady]

Thank you! Question though for thought......... She was raised in exactly the same situation with the others, came in with these feathers after the juvie molt and none of the others did. If it is damage, would that not still indicate a weaker feather quality as none of the others have this?

Edited to add: Walt saw one of Kims birds from Kathy's line at the Heirloom Expo and said not to use her as she had poor feather quality. Maybe he will see this and comment

What I am seeing here is almost a line running across the feathers with a sort of pleat in it in the new growth. When the feather is grown out, there is a weak place running across which looks frayed.

 

[Zanna]

He said to watch for that in the future, he didn't say not to use her. The feathers on mine were different. I'm not sure how to describe it ... the separation in the feather webbing made it look frayed, almost like hair.

Thank you for clarifying that! I am certainly not looking for an excuse to not use her, she is one of the larger pullets and has the most correct colour. She is almost a twin in body type of my favorite that has the columbian neck. Still going to wait till next molt though. All things being equal her feathers are damaged and none of the other pullets or cockerals are.

 

[Zanna]

What I am seeing here is almost a line running across the feathers with a sort of pleat in it in the new growth. When the feather is grown out, there is a weak place running across which looks frayed.

Yes!

 

[MagicChicken]

Quote:
This is what I've always called "stress bars." Hadn't thought about them being caused by cold damage, but it makes sense. In wild birds they are sometimes caused by intermittent nutritional deficiencies.

I am waiting to see what happens with my birds that were growing feathers the day someone's Rottweiler puppy invaded the yard and gummed the tail feathers off of several of my adult birds. The chicks in the grow-out pen were watching. Curious to see if that incident shows up in the chick feathering. Time will tell.

Sarah

 

[thedragonlady]

This is what I've always called "stress bars." Hadn't thought about them being caused by cold damage, but it makes sense. In wild birds they are sometimes caused by intermittent nutritional deficiencies.

I am waiting to see what happens with my birds that were growing feathers the day someone's Rottweiler puppy invaded the yard and gummed the tail feathers off of several of my adult birds. The chicks in the grow-out pen were watching. Curious to see if that incident shows up in the chick feathering. Time will tell.

Sarah

T call stress barring the white lines you sometimes see in black or colored birds that have had a drastic diet change.Whatever they are called, they sure mess up a bird's feathers.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Laceyblues, here are the pics I took of the Delaware pullet of Kathy's that I have with the poor feather quality. Pics taken in the dark on the roost last night but hopefully you can see the frayed look to the feathers. This is not rooster damage, her feathers came in like this after her Juvie Molt, she is a year old first week in April. She is with my layer flock and will not be used for breeding.

Thanks Zanna. Is it only her tail feathers that show this problem? I can't really tell on the back feathers. Some of my birds seem to have a problem in their primary feathers. The webbing is weak and the the feather looks pretty tattered. I put a picture on here a while back asking about it. Feather quality is definitely one of the pressures I'm putting on them this year.

Karen, a question for you...... I know you have purchased shipping boxes from boxesforbirds.com Their smallest, the two bird box, I am assuming as they come unassembled that you would not have to put the divider in? Would they be big enough for transporting a fairly large Marans Pullet/Hen to a show? Are they wax lined? Can't find answers on their website!

Stay warm everyone! We were a balmy 63 deg. today, snow a foot and a half 3 weeks ago, very unusual for here. Tomorrow the great floods are supposed to hit for two days and it has just almost dried up!

No, you don't have to put the divider in but like Kathy said, I'd get a bigger box just so your bird has some room. You can also use plain cardboard boxes. I've seen lots of them at shows. Just make sure to cut air holes.

Also, at pet places and feed stores, sometimes they carry pet carriers that are either waxes or coated with plastic or made of corrugated plastic. I don't know how strong the boxes are but they're fairly cheap. To strengthen the bottom you could probably cut a piece of cardboard to fit then put your shavings in on top of that.

 

[thedragonlady]

i need a photo because I need more coffee before going out into -10F

I'll see if I can't get some photos tomorrow. Raining and 31 here today.

 

[Zanna]

Thanks Zanna. Is it only her tail feathers that show this problem? I can't really tell on the back feathers. Some of my birds seem to have a problem in their primary feathers. The webbing is weak and the the feather looks pretty tattered. I put a picture on here a while back asking about it. Feather quality is definitely one of the pressures I'm putting on them this year.

No, you don't have to put the divider in but like Kathy said, I'd get a bigger box just so your bird has some room. You can also use plain cardboard boxes. I've seen lots of them at shows. Just make sure to cut air holes.

Also, at pet places and feed stores, sometimes they carry pet carriers that are either waxes or coated with plastic or made of corrugated plastic. I don't know how strong the boxes are but they're fairly cheap. To strengthen the bottom you could probably cut a piece of cardboard to fit then put your shavings in on top of that.

Only her tail feathers. All others look good.

I use plain cardboard boxes a lot to haul around the birds. We have a property and barn close to where we live where I grow out most of my cockerals so they can free-range and rarely fight as there are no girls there, lots of space and always a variety of ages of birds. The boxes with the handles appeal to me as some of the boys are pretty heavy and I would think would be easier to carry by myself. Have seen people with the wax lined ones at shows and they clean up really well so can be reused many times. I know my vet can get them so willl look there next. Thanks for the ideas!

 

[armorfirelady]

Does anyone with feather footed breeds had problems where the feathers are breaking off on their feet causing them to bleed? I have a BCM/EE mix who has had this problem twice now. I don't if it's because there's a problem with the feathers coming in or because she has gotten them wet and they froze causing them to break?

You can see here where they broke off at the pin part of the feather. I pulled out those broken pins plus some around it. As you can see she has frost bite on her toe. She liked to stand in her fermented feed. Hence the frost bite. That problem has been fixed
ETA I sprayed some blue kote on the area to try and prevent infection in it.

 

[ocap]

I'll see if I can't get some photos tomorrow. Raining and 31 here today.

thanks, I have to change something in the way I care for my flock before next winter.