Feathers in the new coop

[muskovy]

Hi everyone! Hubby and I just finished the coop for our first little flock of bantams and they spent their first night outside in 6 weeks. I didn't hear any noises at night but in the morning I found lots of feathers around their coop and I'm puzzled as to what could have happened. The nesting box has fencing wire on one side through which the feathers had fallen out into the run, but their run is secure with wire from all four sides so that no predators could get in. Are the feathers a cause for concern? I don't want them to be stressed out by something that I can fix. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

 

[chickenweirdo1]

Feathers are just like the hair on your head they are constantly falling off and growing new ones. So its nothing to be worried about.

 

[muskovy]

I'm so glad that I trusted my gut feeling and was worried about those silly feathers: it turns out that a yellow rat snake was hunting my chickens! It showed up during the day and we spotted it trying to get into the run. The snake didn't live, but my chickens are sleeping inside tonight until I make sure there isn't a crevice in the coop.