Hello everyone and thanks for having a look at this

 

It has been a while since I posted last so I am not sure whether this topic has been covered before or not

 

Over the past 3 months a percentage maybe as much as 30% of my babies leaving the box, have not developed either flight feathers nor tail feathers.

 

Once I know they are capable of feeding themselves, I have seperated them and in time the feathers eventally grow, however, this can take upto a couple of months.

 

Can anyone tell me if there is a reason for this, are they lacking vitamins or nutrients as I give them fresh seed and water, greens, cuttlefish, oats occasionaly and egg and biscuit mix. I am at a loss and as always, any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

One futher thought could be that the parents are genetically defective, however, the babies are from 4 or 5 different pairings none of which I believe to be related.

 

Thanks again for your help

 

Stendorosa

Sounds like your babies have french moult. It can go through an aviary apparently and infect all babies born around a certain period. It can be due to overbreeding and not resting the hen. There are many theories on why this occurs. We have covered the subject here on this forum and a search for french moult subjects (here) would be of help to you. Also do some reading up on the subject on Google. Good luck..........Karen

Dehydration after leaving the nest is a big cause for the flights and tail feathers to either drop or not develop properly.

 

Revise your management in water supply.

I had this problem a few months ago with one clutch of chicks. They all developed french moult and was advised to cull them as it is very contagious. It was very heartbreaking but had to be done. I have no idea why they had it as all my other chicks were very healthy. Do you have any photoes you could post???

your comment strikes me you said once you know that they are capable, about what age is that in weeks? That would help out the breeders because some keep their babies in longer with the parents even though they can feed themselves to watch them.

Good Point Lovey.

Mine come out of the nest box around 28days but stay in the breeding cage with the parents until they are 42 days.

I weigh them once a week to make sure they are okay before puting them in the nursary. They stay in there for two weeks before going into the flight.

All chicks are weighed weekly and monitored everyday to make sure they are eating and drinking.

I say that because maybe they are not getting the nutrition they need, you know even though they are capable the parents will still feed them and I am sure there is extra nutrition in there that we can't provide. That was my reasoning for that question...