8 week old chicks with no feathers.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 10:30 pm

I need help please. My ringnecks have four babies, they are eight weeks old and today they came out of the nest. BUT, they are not fully feathered. Their head is adout the only thing that has all it's feathers. The rest of their body is bearly getting feathers. This isn't normal is it? They are trying to fly around but they can't without fully developed wing feathers. Other then that they are healthy. The parents are very healthy, they are on a 1/2 pellet 1/2 seed diet, and I have been giving them corn on the cobb everyday, and they have always had plenty calcium supplements. Has anybody seen anything like this before? I have seen pictures on different web sights that show chicks at 6 weeks of age almost fully feathered. Please help.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 10:39 pm

Mikaela · Post by **Mikaela** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 7:09 am

Hun, I am far from an expert but I can tell you I got my baby at 8 weeks and she was fully feathered. She is now 11 weeks and has had to have her wings clipped twice.

Hope this helps you some. Sorry I only know what I know from experience, though I spend a great deal of time trying to learn all I can. If you would like to see what my baby looked like at 8 weeks, go to this link, let me know what you think.

www.photobucket.com/albums/a306/lovizio/India/
Double click on that link then scroll down to see her.

Good luck sweetheart and please let us know how it works out.

IMR4N · Post by **IMR4N** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 4:08 pm

I’m sorry that this reply is so late. I think that your birds maybe suffering from PBFD (Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease). it isn’t fatal but does stop them from being able to grow feathers. Once again I cant apologise enough.

Below is a link with some information about the different diseases.

http://www.avianbiotech.com/Diseases/PBFD.htm

Mikaela · Post by **Mikaela** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:03 am

Bless his heart and the owner *big hugs*

If you decide you dont want it because of its disability and cant find it a home, I'll adopt it. Maybe it is so ugly it is cute? hehe Either way, I'll help you any way I can.

zoe · Post by **zoe** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 4:43 am

I always love the "special"ones even more !3 legged dogs especially!!!my husband says its the only reason i like him because he's "special"!!

Mikaela · Post by **Mikaela** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 7:20 am

They have a three legged dog on the surreal life this season that just kills me. He humps everything he can find. Soooooo cute. Check it out. you'll fall in love!

Mikaela · Post by **Mikaela** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 7:20 am

They have a three legged dog on the surreal life this season that just kills me. He humps everything he can find. Soooooo cute. Check it out. You'll fall in love!

Jonathan18 · Post by **Jonathan18** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 11:44 pm

lol, yes, i've seen the dog in surreal this season. it's funny and his name is Lucky. how ironic

Angelface · Post by **Angelface** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 4:36 pm

I wonder what happened to the baby chicks...anyone have any idea?

Fresno · Post by **Fresno** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 6:30 pm

I am the owner of those chicks and they finally got all there feathers after about 14 weeks of age. The youngest finished getting his at 16 weeks. I had them tested for PBFD and it came out negative. I don't know what it was but they are fine now. If anybody knows what could have caused it, please tell us. Today they are all normal.

Mikaela · Post by **Mikaela** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 2:58 am

Well isnt that something.... late bloomers to say the least. Nonetheless, they are ok now and I am SO happy for you. I was a little worried because my baby was fully feathered at 6 weeks. Maybe this means a late moult too! The less of those, the better!

Angelface · Post by **Angelface** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 6:43 am

I'm glad the chicks turned out all right!!! and I honestly don't know what could have caused them to be late bloomers, it could be just how they were!

Melika · Post by **Melika** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 10:03 am

It was most likely nutrition related. It takes a lot to grow feathers, it may have been something lacking that the parents didn't recieve while they were feeding. But they have their feathers now.

What did you feed the parents? Or if you handfed, what did you feed the chicks?

Fresno · Post by **Fresno** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 10:23 pm

I fed them a 1/2 pellet, 1/2 seed diet and a fresh supply of corn on the cobb. I was thinking the same thing, maybe it was what they were eating. When the parents were feeding the chicks they really didn't touch the seeds or pellets. They mostly fed the chicks the corn. Maybe that caused it.

Melika · Post by **Melika** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 6:38 pm

That's a definite possiblity. Corn isn't very nutritious on its own. They were probably missing the nutrients for growing feathers until you began hand-feeding.

Parents that are feeding will almost always go for the softer food to feed the chicks. For the next clutch I'd reccomend a varied diet in veggies and occasional fruits. I think I listed some fresh foods somewhere on this forum that are good.

I'm glad they all pulled through. These are some hardy birds, aren't they? ^__^

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 10:29 pm

It was most likely the parents plucking the chicks feathers out

IndianRingNeck.com

8 week old chicks with no feathers.

8 week old chicks with no feathers.

No feathers yet? Hrm...