Molt Malfunction or Parasites?! Please answer if you can. I feel sick.

[AmyJane725]

it was just natures way of scaring you..

I'm inclined to agree with you.

And the molt appears normal. She's past the feather loss stage. The feathers are basically all in. The bottoms of some are still wrapped in the little clear flaky sleeves that need to break down, but nothing unusual at all.

 

[AmyJane725]

Do your chickens dirt bathe? What is the medium? Sand, loam, clay, muddy black soil, compost, leaf mold? Could it be dirt on the naked feather shafts? Or dried poop?

If the feathers coming in are otherwise normal, I would keep an eye on her and see what these strange "feathers" do in the weeks ahead. I am wondering if these anomalies are perhaps old feathers stripped of their barbs, and what is left are these dark bits. If they are old worn feathers, they should be falling out. Or have you pulled them out of her? Are there normal pin feathers surrounding these oddities?

My chickens do dirt bathe. It's just dry dusty soil. Not red/clay, or sand or anything. And no leaf material. Any plant matter in their run has long since been gobbled up. The stuff on/in her feathers is definitely not dirt or poop.

I pulled out the ones for the photos, but left most of them. There's not even that many. Just a few weird ones that have that "splitting open with black stuff inside" look to them. If you just looked at her standing there you'd never know. It's only if you pull the feathers back and really look deeper. There's a few flakes that have navigated to the surface of her, but nothing to write home about.