One of my 3-month-old Red Partridge Orpington pullets has a weird butt. Her tail has always looked a bit off... Folding straight down over her butt. I've never seen it upright like on the rest of my Orpingtons of different colors. I've never seen her shake her tail either. Her sisters' tails look normal. She's English, so I know they have a more rounded look to them, and my adults are quite round, including the tail area. But their tail feathers still point up, even if short and rounded. Her tail feathers are actually quite long, they just fold and point straight down over the vent, always. She has the profile of a rumpless chicken, if you look at her from the side. The breed is under development at the place where I got her from as a hatching egg (Papa's Poultry) but there are no rumpless breeds being mixed in. Just varieties of Orpington. Random mutation maybe? Or is this a sign that there's something wrong with her?
I tried feeling around under the fluff for a tail, but it's hard to tell. I think there's something there, that the tail feathers are attached to, but not sure if that's her tail, if she has one. On her sisters, it's easier to feel a separate nub where the tail is, but on her I can't tell if I'm feeling a tail or just the tight clump of feathers back there. The tail is clearly visible and easy to feel on the grown hens, but the pullets are a lot more densely feathered, and everything is smaller, so it's harder.
She was the first to hatch and has always been the largest of the brood (only recently dethroned in size by the second in line). She's healthy and acts normal. I'm just curious. This batch of Red Partridge Orps has been weird overall. Out of the three pullets, one appears rumpless, one is almost completely black, and the third has blue feet...
With one of her sisters:
Her other sister:
I tried feeling around under the fluff for a tail, but it's hard to tell. I think there's something there, that the tail feathers are attached to, but not sure if that's her tail, if she has one. On her sisters, it's easier to feel a separate nub where the tail is, but on her I can't tell if I'm feeling a tail or just the tight clump of feathers back there. The tail is clearly visible and easy to feel on the grown hens, but the pullets are a lot more densely feathered, and everything is smaller, so it's harder.
She was the first to hatch and has always been the largest of the brood (only recently dethroned in size by the second in line). She's healthy and acts normal. I'm just curious. This batch of Red Partridge Orps has been weird overall. Out of the three pullets, one appears rumpless, one is almost completely black, and the third has blue feet...
With one of her sisters:
Her other sister:
but healthy and otherwise normal.
