I have four chicks that are roughly 8 weeks old. Two are black copper marans, one is a cream legbar (or welsummer...not entirely sure), and the other is a lavender orpington. The first three listed feathered out several weeks ago, but the orpington seems to be trapped in a mostly non-feathered state (the other lavender, which unfortunately passed, was in a similar state feather-wise). I have read that lavender orpingtons are sometimes slow to feather, but I did not imagine it to be quite like this. Most of the down feathers are gone, the wings are partially feathered, the tail is finally getting some feathers, but it overall looks scraggly. It acts perfectly healthy and energetic, but is very much at the bottom of the pecking order (I should mention here it is also seems to be somewhere between a third and half the size of the others). There are no obvious injuries from pecking, although I cannot help but wonder if the others are pulling its feathers when I am not looking.
I am wondering if I should perhaps pull it from the group and see if it will start growing its feathers in better and perhaps growing more (I do notice lately the bigger chicks will sometimes discourage it from food), or if I should just leave it and be patient with its not-so-attractive feathering process.
Thank you in advance for any input!
I am wondering if I should perhaps pull it from the group and see if it will start growing its feathers in better and perhaps growing more (I do notice lately the bigger chicks will sometimes discourage it from food), or if I should just leave it and be patient with its not-so-attractive feathering process.
Thank you in advance for any input!
