Feather eating

[rngrbill]

Still learning here. My 5 girls are around 18 - 23 weeks old now. 2 are laying. all are on Layena free choice with cracked corn/birdseed (10%) for scratch. I noticed that a couple have started eating the dropped feathers. None are actually molting. The tail of my Black Australorp looks like she went to the barbershop and had a thinning of her feathers. They are not pulling out feathers or really pecking at each other, other than an "I'm drinking now and you can't" pecking order type of thing. No real mean attacks. Is this normal and is it a sign of something lacking in the diet? They have oyster and grit free choice in seperate small feeders.

Thanks for the help.

 

[spiritdance]

sometimes feather eating is a sign they need more protein. When you offer scratch, they may eat less of their balanced pellets, so if you want to continue feeding scratch, and I know mine love it, add in some protein rich snacks as well, like boiled eggs, meal worms, or BOSS.

 

[SteveBaz]

yep... freaked the hell out of me too!! strange little creatures

Steve

 

[dallandrafae]

Freaked me out too.