Thin feathers on leghorn chick.

[Gundog75]

Hi..I'm a new chicken owner ..I have a handful of 8 week(or so)chicks in a big brooder. I have one white leghorn that seems to have thin feathers. She seems to have grown a good majority of her feathers and they are bulky on the bulk of her body..but under the wings they seem pretty bare and a bit on her chest.. I'm not sure if this is just because she has white feathers and light skin that makes it appear this way and this is normal..or if the change from baby feathers to adult feathers seems more gapped than with the others or if she has some sort of disease. I'm feeding medicated starter. Her demeanor is sometimes listless..but all the other chickens may be the same but I'm now just looking for problems with her. Has anyone else raised a leghorn? Help me BYC Community..you're my only hope.

 

[Judy]

They can look pretty ragged while young and growing in their feathers. They lose some of the first feathers and grow more. It also could be the others are pulling them and eating them. Be sure they don't have any lice / mites. 8 weeks is old for a brooder; can you move them outside where they can forage? If you still have a heat lamp on them, definitely turn it off.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

 

[Gundog75]

Thank you for the reply.I should say that they have left the original brooder and have moved into a bigger indoor cooplike enclosure..that is inside for another couple weeks while the nice/secure outside coop I ordered is being finished(it took a little longer than we had expected.) And I live in Portland Oregon and it's still pretty rainy/cold here until mid june or so..and as much as this coop messes up my dining room floor..I'm glad they have cover. And they do get outside for a couple hours every day or so. I had the light on but only in a corner of the coop..they still huddle under it occasionally so I left it on...but I'll try it with it off for a bit. I haven't seen any lice or mites but I'll keep an eye out. I appreciate the advice. I hear a lot of horror stories about the first round with chickens and I am trying my darndest to avoid adding more bad stories.