Eating feathers??

[TokoBird]

Is it normal for chickens to eat their own feathers during molting?

My young 'pullet' - of 16 weeks - fired out several of her feathers, and then ate them! (I say pullet in inverted commas because the consensus on here was she's a girl, but so far no comb,(let alone a red one) and no wattles, or is this what some of you have called a 'pea comb'?

She wants to be with her brothers, not the other girls. I just think her legs look more like the boys lol.

As others said - low protein makes them want to eat feathers, and when molting they need more protein than normal.

Additionally, young immature birds need more protein than a laying-age hen.

As long as you’re feeding high-protein starter feed, with high-protein snacks (like mealworms, peanuts, crickets, soy) the behavior will generally go away on its own.

If she tends to eat a lot of veggie treats, she may be getting less protein in her diet than she should - loading up on fiber, so there’s less room for the more nutrient balanced pellets


Also- Some birds just like feathers lmao. Ive got one who eats plenty of protein and is perfectly healthy but if you’ve got a small feather in-hand she’ll LUNGE for it, and the run around clucking like she’s got a great prize in her beak so the other hens chase her out of curiosity. Once they lose interest (because it’s just a feather) she gleefully declares her “win” and then tries to eat it.
I think she’s made a game out of it - she also does that to flower petals and bright yellow grass.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is it normal for chickens to eat their own feathers during molting?

Molting or not, some chickens will eat feathers flying around. Some do not. I don't see the harm in it at all, they are just taking advantage of a nutrient source.

If they were plucking feathers off of another chicken (whether they eat them or not) I'd consider it a problem but just taking advantage of a free nutrient source is fine by me.

 

[BackyardinWales]

They do get a mixture of nuts in their 'breakfast' ... walnuts, cashews, almonds ... but I guess I shall be adding peanuts to their diet.

Thank you people.