pullet not developed yet

[belleisa]

hi all#
i have a Pekin Pullet aged now about 35 weeks old, she is showing no sighs of developing or growing either her comb or wattles, she always looks withdrawn and has pasty coloured eye area, some days she does colour up and look healthy and other days she looks pale and uninteresting.
she was bought with another Pekin from the same hatching hatched in Feb, i got her end of May, her sister Pekin has developed nicely and had laid about 12 eggs but has now decided she not laying any more

the non developed one spends most of her time trying to be with a broody Wyandotte, and thinks she is her mum.
is it possible that the Pekin is for want a better description disabled or mentally retarded ? 09
i have been giving her poultry drops to try encourage her to look healthy.

any suggestions would be gratefully received

 

[Lordcluck]

There could be any number of reasons why this pullet has remained under developed.Have you checked her for all the more common Poultry ailments? Parasites both External or internal, coccidiosis etc? is it her environment? is she being constantly bullied by more dominant females? These things can check a bird's development. A stress free environment, or an accurate diagnosis of any physical diseases by a Vet, and appropriate treatment may see her put on a developmental spurt and help her catch up with her sibling.

Has she always been stunted compared to her healthy sister? if so, It could be a congenital weakness, some birds are born with Inherent abnormalities or deficiencies that can cause them to be susceptible to the slightest infections. Any challenge to such a bird's immune system can severely and permanently interrupt their growth patterns, leaving them open to further infections and incapable of reaching any kind of healthy maturity.

They are termed ' wasters' or 'wastrels' in poultry keeping husbandry, and can act as a resevoir for disease that could potentially infect other healthy birds around them. It is extremely unlikely that such a bird would respond to any kind of treatment, and it would probably have a number of connected and chronic conditions, the desire to brood is an effort to keep warm, which suggests her thermoregulation is failing.If she is a bird like this, then The kindest thing to do would be to have her euthanised by a Vet or have an experienced person Cull her quickly and painlessly.

 

[belleisa]

Thank you for your reply
i have only been keeping hens since the end of May, and i originally had 2 Silkies amongst my flock of 7 hens.
i lost both of these with in 6 weeks of each other and i believe they both died from Mareks disease, certainly the second one did because of the characteristic of her eye.
the Pekin i am referring to became lethargic and sullen at about the same time as the second one died, and i did wonder at the time if she was going to show Mareks symptoms and die also, but she didn't. at that time she was the same age as the Silkies about 4 months old. they all came from the same breeder.
i am now wondering if in fact she is now non developed because the Mareks disease has affected her neurologically making her not quite right.
is this a possibility ?
i have researched Mareks quite a lot and not found any reference to it, but did note that Pekins can also be prone to Mareks.

 

[Lordcluck]

Interesting, I keep Pekins and have never knowingly lost, or had a bird that showed any of the classic symptoms of Mareks? ( that's not to say they are Immune) but I also keep them alongside Barbu d'uccles and Sebrights, both breeds with a high susceptibility to Mareks, and I have lost birds of these breeds to the disease in the past, and I'm familiar with it's symptoms. I have always believed Pekins to be naturally quite resistant to the disease?
Without a postmortem it would be impossible to say with any certainty if your Pekin has it or not.

 

[belleisa]

Interesting, I keep Pekins and have never knowingly lost, or had a bird that showed any of the classic symptoms of Mareks? ( that's not to say they are Immune) but I also keep them alongside Barbu d'uccles and Sebrights, both breeds with a high susceptibility to Mareks, and I have lost birds of these breeds to the disease in the past, and I'm familiar with it's symptoms. I have always believed Pekins to be naturally quite resistant to the disease?
Without a postmortem it would be impossible to say with any certainty if your Pekin has it or not.

I was quite sure I had seen it written that pekins were susceptible to mareks but now can't find where I saw it.

 

[Chuck]

Resistant is not immune, so if any breed has a resistance to the disease it means they are less likely to develop it, not that they can't.

I suspect your bird has picked up something along the way which has been a setback from which she has and probably will not recover.

 

[belleisa]

Hi yes I have a feeling she won't colour up and lay eggs
She is a sweet hen, so will become a pet rather then a worker