All those feathers!

[maggiemooscluckers]

I have 9 week old slow broilers and they are growing well. My only concern right now is that there are feathers all aver the pen. The chickens still look fine but I was wondering if the loss of feathers was a natural thing. They are eating VERY WELL, still pretty active and except for the feathers laying all around, they look good. Has anyone else lost feathers with their broilers?

 

[mstricer]

They are probably molting. I have feathers all over the place for different reasons, we are processing today

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

I don't know . . . do you think 9 week olds would be molting? it sounds unusual to me, at 9 weeks my broilers are really just completing their hard feather aquisition.

 

[eKo_birdies]

i dunno, she did say slow broiler, maybe they are a little behind "schedule"?

otherwise, i'm at a loss.

 

[silkiechicken]

They could be a bit early and moulting from baby feather to juvenile feathers.

 

[maggiemooscluckers]

These feathers are full fledged adult feathers, not just little fuzzies. I didn't think that nine week old chickens would be molting since they just got these big feathers. I guess it won't matter too much since they will be featherless in the freezer in about 3 weeks anyway. Might save me from having to pluck so many feathers.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

I don't know . . . I would see it as perhaps an indicator of something bigger. I agree that it is odd for 9 week olds to be shedding new feathers, I've never had it happen.

 

[TNBarnQueen]

All my chickens are molting at ages 2 yrs. to 4 mo. If it had not been for the wind storm yesterday I was going to have to rake the yard! I feel the weather..hence Mother Nature..sometimes does not always prepare them for seasonal change at the same time. Weather has become varied over the last several years..so these changes can be early if early winter approaches. I raise horses and their coats started "fluffing" 3 weeks ago and we are still in 70+ temps. So chances are we will have a quick launch into winter. I watch signs from nature in decisions of when I need to do some things on our farm. Hope this helps! Oh...one good thing to watch are Writing Spiders...they appear around 6 - 7 weeks before your first frost. I have watched them here for 5 years without failing to say....Wow. {