Sliver lace polish 11 weeks old

[beckym1619]

Hello,
I am new to chickens. I have 4 sliver laced polish and one is a roo as he crows. Not sure about the others. My question is more on molting? Seems there are feathers in the coop mostly small ones and one of the chicks has feathers on his head that are just pin feathers. Is this that they are losing their chick feathers and getting their regular feathers?
Also I am feeding them chick feed only and they do eat some greens. I live up north and getting cold out so... should I start them on some scratch and grits too?
Thanks.

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas and ! Pleased you joined our community. What you are describing sounds like molting but you refer to them as chicks. How old are they? Most chickens don't molt til their second autum but older first autumn chicks may experience a light molt. See below for a link that talks about the molt: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/what-happens-when-chickens-molt
I terms of feeding...sounds like what you are doing is fine regarding their feed but some folks in colder climates toss out a little scratch to supplement in the winter. Please check out the Learning Center here https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center
It is chock full of valuable intel for the new chicken keeper. Best wishes and thanks for joining BYC!

 

[CuzChickens]

Hello there, and welcome to Backyard Chickens! Redsox gave you great advice, so I'll just say hi!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi

Glad you could join us here! At 11 weeks your birds could be having one of their mini molts until there full adult feathers come through. It's nothing to worry about but can be quite alarming to see feathers in the coop. Redsoxs has left you some great links to check out, I'm sure you will find them very helpful.
Good luck with your polish in the future and enjoy BYC

 

[QueenMisha]

Welcome to BYC! It's great to have you.

At 11 weeks, they definitely could be having a juvenile minimolt. As long as they're growing pin feathers in, I would worry about it.

Chickens don't "need" any sort of scratch, and if they have access to dirt they shouldn't need grit either. You can feed scratch as a treat if you want, but be sure not to let it exceed 10% of the diet.

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[beckym1619]

Thankyou for all the information! Love this site

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!