Do you clean up molting feathers?

[Morrigan]

It's that time of year where there are feathers everywhere in the coop and yard. It looks so messy, but I kinda go with the flow. If there is a particular dense concentration somewhere (blown up against a fence or a pile on the poop board), I rake or scoop them up in put them in the compost. Otherwise, I just wait it out and they seem to eventually blow away or decompose.

Just curious as to what other people do, as I can't recall this being discussed before.

 

[3KillerBs]

DH wants me to clean them up.

I tried to rake them up with the leaf rake so as to bury them under the new pine straw I was adding to the bare areas of the pen.

It doesn't work. I told him I wasn't trying it again.

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

I’ve never really thought about it. Back when I had turkeys and peafowl, I would pick theirs up since they were big and noticeable. Mine free range a lot, so maybe most of theirs are out of the coop, but I’ve never seen enough of them that I would pick them up specifically. They usually just get cleaned out when I change the straw/shavings/whatever they have at the time.
Interested to see what other people say.

 

[piminuse]

Outside the run: let nature take its course and they'll blow away eventually. I have enough disasters happening out in my crappy yard that I can't care about errant feathers.

Inside the run: the birds turn 'em with all the other debris in there, so I just rake out the ones stuck in the corners and "high traffic" areas.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

I don't pick mine up unless there are too many. Mine free range pretty much everyday so the feathers are spread out throughout the orchard. Those ones tend to blow away so I don't bother with those

 

[Ridgerunner]

In a rural area I don't worry about them. They will eventually rot, compost, or break down, whatever you want to call it. The chickens may eat a lot of the small fluffy ones, no problems with that. Some will just blow away. In an urban setting I might react differently.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I am suburban living here.....

I rake them up and dispose of them. Sooooooo many feathers!

 

[Morrigan]

I am suburban living here.....

I rake them up and dispose of them. Sooooooo many feathers!

That sounds like no fun. Feathers don't rake up easy.

 

[Lilalienangel]

I'm suburban too. Unless someone is peeking in my fence they can't see the yard. I leave mine be..

 

[Pghelp]

I'm urban but our girls are pretty secluded in our backyard. I compost the ones in the coop when I change the bedding but I don't bother with the ones in the run. A few of them do like eating the feathers which I find weird, but oh well! I figure the rest of the fluff will be dust to dust eventually! Right now my coop and run looks like someone was processing chickens. Feathers everywhere!