Lots Of Feathers In The Coop

[countrygirl911]

Hi i have a simple question i have noticed that inside my chickens coop there seems to be alot of feathers in there i check the chickens out and they do not seem to have any perasites on them it is really hot here lately and i am trying to keep them cool as best as i can i notice they like to preen/clean their feather with their beak could them doing this alot cause all the feathers in the coop also what exactly do i look for if it is mites or something i see no bald spots or anything else on them but i could be missing it. would greatly appreciate any advice.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

How old are the chickens you have in there? They could be molting

 

[countrygirl911]

i have 5 13 to 14 weeks olds and 5 11 to 12 weeks olds

 

[Ridgerunner]

Chicks go through two juvenile molts before they reach adulthood. That sounds like a juvenile molt. These two sites together may help you.

Mississippi State describes molting
http://msucares.com/poultry/management/poultry_feathers.html

Kansas State feather loss
http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/library/lvstk2/mf2308.pdf

As for mites, this link has pictures, but I'm betting on a juvenile molt.

Ohio State – Mites and Lice
http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

Good luck!

 

[countrygirl911]

ty so much for all the info do they usually molt right before they start to lay eggs for the first time i know i have at least 4 to 6 weeks before i see the first eggs but will they be done molting before then and before winter first time chicken owner

 

[wsdareme]

Quote:
I have a dozen girls that are 12-1/2 weeks old, and both my coop and run look like a couple of chickens exploded. They're all healthy, so I didn't give it a second thought. I assumed that was normal -- thanks Ridgerunner for verifying that for me. The first batch of feathers were pretty fuzzy; now I notice that they look like more mature feathers, but I can see that the girls are getting a lot more color and patterning in their feathers.

 

[HHandbasket]

I second the "thank you for the info"! I was starting to wonder about whether my girls are molting (all about 16 weeks, 1 that's about 20 weeks), as well. My girls free range in the yard & we've been finding feathers all over the place but primarily in the coop/run area. Is this a sign that they'll lay in the next month or so? That would be nice. They're turning into little freeloaders.

They sleep in the nesting boxes and have kicked out all the fake eggs. I fully anticipate my girls are going to lay their eggs wherever they darn well please, so I do a full-yard check every day. I've only heard egg song twice from my leghorn, the 2nd time being yesterday; but she was singing it while she was strutting around in the yard, so I don't think she was serious. Her face has gotten awfully red lately though still quite pink, not quite red enough. I'm hoping by Labor Day. That would be nice.

 

[bakohens]

My girls went through the juvenile molt about seven weeks ago - feathers EVERYWHERE! And then they started laying about three weeks ago.

 

[OregonChickenGal]

That's right....it's molting time again!

 

[Nevada Desert Chick]

My 11 wk old girls have been molting for several days. Yesterday a large dirt devil came through my property and hit the run area-- It was quite a sight to see the hundreds of brown and white feathers heading across the desert!