Pullets feathers not coming in? Or fallen out?

[hannahshatchery]

they are pets so we will hope for the best for her. And cockerel you say?! I was told they were all girls! Oh well...

 

[chooks4life]

Definite male, the blurred one with the big red crest right behind the stunted chook, in the last photo. Lucky hen to be a pet... I keep them for livestock but have a surprising amount of hens who've made pets of themselves, lol. Best wishes with that.

Just thought of something.... Since I'd expect her to die if she doesn't grow properly, which is what usually happens and from her shape it looks like it's happening now... If she were mine she'd be on a pinch of granulated kelp per day (like all the rest); this might help her. It causes them to grow strong feathers but more importantly it is a powerful endocrine regulator and complete, balanced multi vitamin and mineral spectrum. I think it may help. It won't do any harm unless you're force feeding her large amounts daily.

 

[hannahshatchery]

Thanks for the advice. I will definitely get some kelp!

 

[hannahshatchery]

Here are all six, are there any other boys?? And what do you make of the breeds. The lady told me two RIR, two barred rocks and two silver laced wynadottes... Interested to hear your opinion, thanks!

 

[hannahshatchery]

 

[chooks4life]

Lately there's been a spate of hatchery chicks not reaching adulthood, or more to the point never growing out of chick stage and size. A lot of them are about as feathered as yours, even at a year old, if they make it that far. If hormones guiding growth are not working then other failures will be occurring. Yours may be one of those permanent babies. I don't know if kelp will change that but it's about the best thing I can think of that stands a chance.

About the breeds, they look correctly named to me, though my skills at identifying purebreds as chicks is limited since I keep mongrels. About the genders, I think you may not have hit the female jackpot there... If my best guess is even close to right. At my most liberal guess I would say 3 are females.

The leftmost one looks either well-developed female or less-developed male, crestwise and colorwise. Not 100% sure about it.
The one closest to the camera, male for sure.
The one furthest away, in the back behind the other two, definite male.
The one furthest right, also male.
Really only the two standing in front of the boy in the furthest corner look like probable females to me, lol!
...But I could be wrong.

The more I look at the two I think are girls, the more I think the featherless one might just be a very under- developed boy, and the other one in front of that one has quite a wide crest for a girl, but it's not that male in appearance either, and neither are the wattles... Is she still wearing her eggtooth? Her beak looks strange.

Also the male that's furthest right, what's going on with his primaries? Is his wing wet?

It's a good thing you wanted pets, I hope you have the space for roosters or someone to take them to a good home. Sadly I think you're been sold a very scrappy bunch, I wouldn't breed them if they were mine. The legs are quite incorrect, the leg bones and scales show inherited splay leg genes and malformed bones, and they don't look like their parents were well chosen nor well fed, in my opinion. I'm sorry. Hatchery chicks always seem to be such disappointing news. But as pets they may excel. Roosters too can be great pets if you can keep them where you are, i.e. if you don't live in suburbia. Contrary to popular belief they can enjoy one another's company and live peacefully together. Wish you all the best with them.

 

[hannahshatchery]

Thank you so much for your reply it was super helpful. I definitely feel like I got a scrappy bunch, and possibly just the ones the lady that bought them as chicks didn't want. They seem to be a friendly and right knit crew and I hope I can keep them all as the boys mature. The two light colored ones are both incredibly tame, they come to be pet and held every time I visit them. The black and white boy jumped onto my hand today too. I see them all snuggling together and just pray that will continue as they age. Our little runt seems to have grown maybe a little and I think maybe his or her feathers are starting to come in but that may be wishful thinking. The kelp arrived today so we will see if that helps. We are only a family of three and my daughter is allergic to eggs so as long as one or two lay we will have enough eggs and some fun pets that she thoroughly enjoys!

 

[chooks4life]

Best wishes with all that. The kelp's not the fastest acting thing visually but with chicks acts faster, because when fed to adults raised without it they start replacing all their body cells with newer healthier ones so it can take a year before you see the full effects. But the chicks have much less to replace so it should be quicker. I've never had a chick with that problem but kelp is the only thing I know of that might make the difference, so here's hoping!

I have a family member sensitive to eggs, and I also keep turkeys and have found their eggs do not elicit a reaction. They're more or less the same in taste as chook eggs, maybe milder, but so far nobody I know is allergic to turkey eggs. Not that turkeys are bred to lay, so it's a lot of work for not many eggs which are better off brooded and hatched really... Have you tried your daughter on duck eggs? Just random ideas. Hope all goes well.

 

[hannahshatchery]

Oh that's interesting and good to know. She's only 14 months so we are hoping she will outgrow it.

As for our little one, she definitely has some new feathers coming in and she seemed to like the kelp, all fingers crossed!

 

[hannahshatchery]

Well this little oddball is really growing and has all kinds of feathers now, including on her feet! No idea what she is but she looks well