Hairy chicken?

[Dooze]

I was looking at my 4 year old australorp hen and discovered white hair attached to her thigh but only on one side. There appears to be some feather loss there too. She seems normal in every other way.

 

[GitaBooks]

That is odd. Perhaps its just a feather grown wrong, otherwise, I have no idea what it is.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Is the white fur on the feathers them self its hard to tell from the picture if so it kinda looks like mold/fungus on the feathers.... Thats just weird if its hair coming out of her leg itself.

 

[Dooze]

Plucked one, it literally looks like a shih tzu rubbed up against her. It has the base of a regular feather, but then just a fine hair until the top, where it splits up into a few black feather-y endings. More protein?

 

[GitaBooks]

Plucked one, it literally looks like a shih tzu rubbed up against her. It has the base of a regular feather, but then just a fine hair until the top, where it splits up into a few black feather-y endings. More protein?

Its probably just an odd feather, though protein during the autumn is wise to help molting chickens. I heard somewhere that chickens, upon being plucked, have fine feathers all over them. Perhaps this one just grew to be really long. After all, we all have odd hairs every now and then, right?

 

[beetandsteet]

Is the white fur on the feathers them self its hard to tell from the picture if so it kinda looks like mold/fungus on the feathers.... Thats just weird if its hair coming out of her leg itself.

Has to do with molting--several of my chickens have this same kind of thing; they are molting right now. What exactly it is I do not know--maybe a part of a feather that hasn't fallen off yet. You shouldn't have any cause for concern.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Mmm thats good to know i havent experianced a molt yet ours are to young this year next year i wont be freaking out through lol.