Need some help with some Deathlayers.

[Tallyman84]

Hello everybody. I'm new to chickens and this is my first post on the site. I found a guy selling death layer pullets. They are from Green fire farms chickens. I bought 8 of them from him. The birds didn't have much plumage on their backs and none on the tails. They were all supposed to be females but i don't think they are. I'm pretty sure I have 2 or 3 cockerals mixed in. My questions are as follows, Is it normal for the birds to have so few feathers? I'll post some pictures and see what you guys think about who's a pullet and who's a cockeral. Most of the birds have feathered out some and the largest is starting to grow tail feathers now, roughly 2 weeks after i got them. Oh, they were advertised as 3 months old but he said they were probably closer to 2 months in person when i got them. Any help you guys can give me will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time. I'll answer any questions promptly and can post more pictures if needed. Thanks!

These two pictures are current pictures. About two weeks after I got them. Still no tails but less patchy.

About 5 days after I got them. You can see most of them has patchy backs and no tails.

This one is from the day I got them. You can see the back patch on the smaller one easy in this picture.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have never heard of the breed, I had to look them up. Could be a breed trait for the tails to come in slower. It does take more energy for them to grow both wing and tail feathers. It's possible the last owner wasn't feeding a good grower ration with enough protein. It's also possible there was some feather picking going on.

I see new feathers coming in, and they look healthy from the photos, so I would provide a good ration and wait for those tails to grow. Certain breeds like Orpingtons for example will take longer for the tail feathers to grow in, especially in the roosters.

I would put their age at around that 8 weeks. In that first photo I would guess the one furthest to the right could be a rooster, but I'm not familiar with the breed.

 

[Tallyman84]

I have never heard of the breed, I had to look them up. Could be a breed trait for the tails to come in slower. It does take more energy for them to grow both wing and tail feathers. It's possible the last owner wasn't feeding a good grower ration with enough protein. It's also possible there was some feather picking going on.

I see new feathers coming in, and the look healthy from the photos, so I would provide a good ration and wait for those tails to grow. Certain breeds like Orpingtons for example will take longer for the tail feathers to grow in, especially in the roosters.

I would put their age at around that 8 weeks. In that first photo I would guess the one furthest to the right could be a rooster, but I'm not familiar with the breed.

Yeah, that's Red. He looks the most like a roo but doesn't act like it at all. Randy is the larger one in the middle of the first picture and the big one in the last picture. He acts like a roo but doesn't look like it, other than his size anyway. Thank you for the input, I don't think the previous owner took very good care or them so malnurishment may be the issue.

 

[coach723]

I had to look them up too....what a beautiful breed!
I agree with the previous post in that poor nutrition and overcrowding would be my suspicions. Best of luck with them, I'm coveting death layers now!!

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

I was just looking these up and saw your post. They are gorgeous!

Your hens look like they haven't been taken care of very well, but in good hands they will do just fine. Not sure about potential Roos, but you should know for sure in about a month.

What area of the country are you in ? I'd love to have some of these birds someday.

 

[Tallyman84]

Thank you very much. They are continuing to improve. There are tail feathers starting to come in on the ones that have any left to grow. They have grown quite a bit and put on some good weight since the post started. The largest suspected roo is almost the size of the barred rock seen in the first picture now. Once the tail feathers come out some more ill update the post with some more pictures. Edit: I live about 15 minutes down the road from Green Fire Farms in north Florida.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Thank you very much. They are continuing to improve. There are tail feathers starting to come in on the ones that have any left to grow. They have grown quite a bit and put on some good weight since the post started. The largest suspected roo is almost the size of the barred rock seen in the first picture now. Once the tail feathers come out some more ill update the post with some more pictures. Edit: I live about 15 minutes down the road from Green Fire Farms in north Florida.

I'm happy to hear they are continuing to improve and are have grown. I had come across the breed in a write up somewhere just before you originally posted.

They are gorgeous birds! And I love the name of the breed!

 

[Mcgrew]

How are your birds doing? Any new pics?

 

[Kenny_]

I just want to say this.. anyone who buys from Greenfire farms and has that many of the deathlayers.. why in the world would they NOT feed them accurately and adequately? Seems ludicrous to me. I hope they are actual deathlayers and that your chickens are OK.

 

[Chullicken]

Greenfire is not cheap and I am suspicious of the seller actually. Finding this post late but found it interesting. It's almost like the seller pulled out the tail feathers prior to sale, hence why you may have had so many roosters. That and just horrible living conditions. Deathlayers are just not one of the TSC factory birds, they are expensive and hard to find so you'd think they'd get excellent care. Hope you update this post, love to see them in a better environment.