scraggly 4-day-old

[Puck-Puck]

Hi!

Out of [now] thirteen chicks hatched Monday, I have two that are a smaller than the rest. One looks all healthy and happy and fuzzy, just as though she were a day younger compared to the others, while the other looks scraggly-necked, with a noticeable amount of down gone from the head, neck, and wings. I know they shed the down for their adult feathers by and by, but I thought that wouldn't happen until about four weeks, rather than four days? She's eating, drinking, and running around just like her hatch-mates, quite unselfconscious. Am I just being too critical of a natural variation? (I swore I wouldn't turn into my mother!

)

If she's no itchier than the rest who also preen and scratch, should I just relax and let her plumage do its own thing at its own pace?

Thanks!

 

[Judy]

Are the others pulling it out? If she is smaller, she would be a likely candidate to be picked on.

 

[Sissy]

I would seperate her with another small one
before the bigger ones hit blood.

 

[Puck-Puck]

I've seen the birds occasionally gently(?) peck at each other's feathers to see if that crumb of whatever on their buddy's back was good to eat. In the absence of crumbs, I thought it may have been mutual grooming. I don't know if the others are plucking Scraggly, but I have put her in a smaller box within the brooder, with food, water, and a small buddy. Everyone else wants in that box now, wondering why they don't have the privilege!

How long should I keep them in the box?

 

[RAWR]

the others could be pulling them out. i would separate her till the down grows back [if it even does]

 

[Judy]

They don't groom each other, that I know of. That is pecking, to establish dominance. I'd say your chick is getting his feathers pulled. The others may be trying to get the ones they've been pecking to keep pecking them.

 

[RAWR]

aw! poor baby :[

 

[Puck-Puck]

Update:

I had Scraggly and a buddy separated yesterday, but let them out at night when they were all snoozy anyhow, and looked at her by daylight today. Her fuzz is missing in a symmetrical pattern on the sides of her head, but I know so little about chickens that I don't know if I see little symmetrical peck-scars around her ears, or if that's how chicken skin is naturally marked underneath the down. She also lacks fuzz under her wings, whereas her mates are still downy there. It's harder for someone to get under your wings to peck, so I wonder if she has a feathering/skin problem that isn't to do with being pecked. If it was mites, wouldn't they all be scraggly? I've posted pictures below, if you'd be willing to look and give your opinion of the cause.

I have her separated again today with a small buddy, just in case it's a bullying issue that I haven't chanced to see while it was happening. The buddy's fluff looks just fine.

Thank you for your thoughts so far!

missing feathering around her ears especially

bare skin under wings