Feathers in the Coop

[imthedude]

Just got back from being gone for 6 days to find more than a few feathers in the coop. I had the 7 girls (14 wks old today) confined to the coop/run while I was gone (a neighbor was opening/closing the pop door morning/night). Usually there are maybe two or three feathers in the coop, but this morning I could see maybe 15 to 20. Would a molt be possible at this age? Seems kind of strange for them to molt during the summer. Couldn't see any noticeable bald patches on any of them, so I'm a bit puzzled where they might be coming from. Could this be a protein or other mineral deficiency?

 

[DukesAngel]

Chickens just kinda loose feathers. I have two 12 week olds and there is always a lot of feathers in the coop. They could have just been stressed from the change in person. I would assume their fine.

 

[briteday]

My chicks for this Spring are about 10 weeks old and they are blowing out the remainder of their initial chick feathers, growingout their more adult feathers. In past years I've discovered that chicks go through several sets of juvenile feathers before the adult ones finally grow in. I didscovered this when I clipped the wings of ~8 week old birds to prevent them from flying over the fence. And then at about 4 months they were making it over again. Checked their wings and they had new feathers all grown back out again! So I have to assume that they "shed" a few times before reaching maturity.