No feathers at 4 weeks

[FoxySonia]

Once her feathers started growing they came in fast. She is normally feathered now so I guess she has the gene for slow feathering. Named her Zha Zha (Gabore) since she is now so “gorgeous dahling”. Her BFF is Eva, of course.

Can you share a photo of her? Would love to see her.

 

[Chicken116]

I got a group of Easter Eggers and California Greys from Privett. One of the CA Greys is like this. Growing, eating, acting like the rest. But the feathers just aren't coming in the same. I found a Wiki regarding a delayed wing feather growth pattern that totally matched--supposedly would be all caught up by 8 weeks. Her (supposed to be all pullets and CA Greys are sexable early) tail is also the last to come in. Wiki Link Scrolled down to the T/t alleles. Here are a few pictures. You can see one is just not like the others!

9 days old

2 weeks-ish

 

[K0k0shka]

I seem to have 1-2 slow-feathering chicks in every batch. Usually Orpingtons of some kind, and usually male. Adorably fluffy and raggedy looking until quite late, but catch up eventually and are otherwise healthy.

 

[FoxySonia]

Here's an update on my slow feathering blue laced Wyandotte bantam chicks from Ideal Poultry that are now 8 weeks old. I think Ideal Poultry might be the only hatchery that sells them, and I suspect they haven't been breeding them for long, so this bantam breed has some genetic problems that haven't yet been bred out. The chicks they sell are definitely not show quality. The runt has grown feathers only on head, back of neck, knees and tip of wings, and has bald spots on back, front and sides of body, bum and tail, so still looks like a growth stunted, tiny plucked chicken. Skin near bum now appear red, so could be he/she is getting pecked and plucked by the other 8 week old bantam chicks which are all bigger than he/she is. The other 2, which are at least 3-4 times bigger and heavier than the runt, have finally feathered out and have most of their feathers, except for a couple of bald spots that show pin feathers coming out. Unlike the runt, they have feathers on their small tail. I'm giving the runt away for free to a good home, as well as a black Silkie (from the same hatchery and hatch) that has a crossed beak. I think both might be pullets.

Chick 1 - the runt (might be a pullet)

Chick 2 (I think it's a cockerel)

Chick 3 (might be a cockerel)

 

[NatJ]

Here's an update

Nice pictures, and good descriptions! Very useful!

on my slow feathering blue laced Wyandotte bantam chicks from Ideal Poultry that are now 8 weeks old. I think Ideal Poultry might be the only hatchery that sells them

Dunlap Hatchery has them too, but I agree they are not available at very many hatcheries.

I'm giving the runt away for free to a good home, as well as a black Silkie (from the same hatchery and hatch) that has a crossed beak. I think both might be pullets.

Looking at your photos, I see matching little red wattles on all three Wyandottes, so I think all three are one gender (probably male.)

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Cockerels feathers grow slower than pullets, and I've seen them grow much slower plenty of times. I think that your chick is a cockerel and will be fine. With placing them outside, just randomly check on them to make certain that everyone is ok and doing well.

 

[Chicken116]

Here's an update on my slow feathering blue laced Wyandotte bantam chicks from Ideal Poultry that are now 8 weeks old. I think Ideal Poultry might be the only hatchery that sells them, and I suspect they haven't been breeding them for long, so this bantam breed has some genetic problems that haven't yet been bred out. The chicks they sell are definitely not show quality. The runt has grown feathers only on head, back of neck, knees and tip of wings, and has bald spots on back, front and sides of body, bum and tail, so still looks like a growth stunted, tiny plucked chicken. Skin near bum now appear red, so could be he/she is getting pecked and plucked by the other 8 week old bantam chicks which are all bigger than he/she is. The other 2, which are at least 3-4 times bigger and heavier than the runt, have finally feathered out and have most of their feathers, except for a couple of bald spots that show pin feathers coming out. Unlike the runt, they have feathers on their small tail. I'm giving the runt away for free to a good home, as well as a black Silkie (from the same hatchery and hatch) that has a crossed beak. I think both might be pullets.

Chick 1 - the runt (might be a pullet)

Chick 2 (I think it's a cockerel)

Chick 3 (might be a cockerel)

Wow, that's bizarre. Did you tell the hatchery? They might give you a credit, and more importantly do some more work with their flock! Oddly enough I ran across an interesting post with a chicken that had a mutation for no scales/feathers. So bizarre. 'Scaleless phenotype' brings up a lot of odd photos. Your little one doesn't quite look like that but makes you wonder what kind of genetic mix up is going on there.

Scaleless phenotype

I don't have any great pictures of my delayed little one handy. S/he remains about a week behind in feathering. S/he has a bit more white in the feathers which is why I'm unsure of gender. Nothing else jumping out and maybe in a week I'll know. Pretty sure all the others are girls at this point. No one is obviously lighter except this one and it may just be the disordered feather development. I'll try and get some up soon. Oh, s/he is also my friendliest California Gray and will come sit on me when I take the top to the kennel off.

 

[Chicken116]

This was as good a shot as I have...only side by sides when they are in the pen. It's a little more obvious Wingnut is less feathered in when looking from the side. I grabbed this shot right before cleaning out the pen (hence the big netting down). Wingnut is the one all the way to the left. Just a little more skewed to white on more feathers than the sisters. They are all getting a bit more 'blurry' and more black to white ratio. In any case, little Wingnut isn't a runt and is clearly feathering in. I think that T/t allele thing might apply.

Vs. 9 days ago. Cropped from the same photo and tweaked to help exposure. Wingnut was clearly less developed then. And today looks just a bit more like the sisters in the 9 days ago shot. Otherwise more mature, but feathering.

Wingnut and an EE

Three of the sisters

And no matter how I try and deny it, Wingnut has more white. Sigh.

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

Just want to put this out there as an alternative thing to try - I had a slow feathering chick. At around 3 months she still had not grown in her tail feathers and was starting to get picked on to the point of bleeding. It turned out she was not absorbing vitamins so she couldn't make feathers - potentially partially for genetic reasons, but the other issue was that she had no gut bacteria load. At the suggestion of her vet, I started giving her Bene-bac (first the gel, then later I started using the powder to dust on all their treats) along with vitamin supplements (Nutri Drench) and she recovered well on the feathering front. Might be something to try.

 

[FoxySonia]

Just want to put this out there as an alternative thing to try - I had a slow feathering chick. At around 3 months she still had not grown in her tail feathers and was starting to get picked on to the point of bleeding. It turned out she was not absorbing vitamins so she couldn't make feathers - potentially partially for genetic reasons, but the other issue was that she had no gut bacteria load. At the suggestion of her vet, I started giving her Bene-bac (first the gel, then later I started using the powder to dust on all their treats) along with vitamin supplements (Nutri Drench) and she recovered well on the feathering front. Might be something to try.

That's good to know. I will try that. Thank you