Unpoofed chick

[Rethia]

This is Shelley. Shelley had a hard time getting out of her shell and it looks like her feathers aren't.. feathery? Also, she has bare spots and her back feels like it's slightly shellacked. She is otherwise healthy, eating, drinking, pooping. Do I need to worry about cleaning off her back, or do I just wait for her to feather out?

 

[Altairsky]

If she's happy and eating, let her be and just monitor her.

 

[Mountain Roost]

Could be the sticky stuff from hatching dried on the feathers. You can give it a warm water bath if you would like and then it would poof. lol

 

[Ridgerunner]

When I have to help a chick hatch they are often like that, even when I rinse them off in warm water. When they hatch without help they tend to poof right out when they dry. I don't know how they manage that hatching by themselves.

The worst one I remember was really gunked up even after a warm water rinse. I turned it loose with a broody, she and the other chicks did not bother it. It took about a week before that stuff was gone and I could no longer tell which chick it was by appearances.

As long as the chick is acting right and the others are not bothering it I'd leave it alone.