Feather sheath flaking?

[CrockChickens9]

My coop and run have had a dusting of some flakey looking stuff in a few areas for a while now. Mostly the areas that my four 15 week old pullets hang out and roost at night. After googling I think the flakes look like they could be old feather sheaths which I think is normal but I want to just check on here with some people with more experience to make sure this is normal and not something health or bug related. Sorry if this is the dumbest question. I don’t pretend to know what I’m doing the majority of the time!

Thanks!

 

[Perris]

nearly right but not quite. The flakes are the keratin sheath that covers the *new* feathers as they are emerging from the feather follicle, and the new feather unfurls as the keratin sheath is flaked off.

 

[FrostRanger]

Always a good idea to check your flock for bugs regardless but what you're seeing is totally normal. Chickens shed a lot of dust and dander, even more so when molting

I say it's better to ask a million dumb questions than make a million dumb mistakes (and no, your question isn't dumb) so ask away!

 

[CrockChickens9]

Thank you all for your kind and informative responses! Glad to know it normal and to be better educated