tail feathers yanked off, will they grow back?

[frizzleman74]

my 5 week old easter egger's tail feathers look as if they have been pulled off, not all but just a couple. They weren't pulled from the root of the feather so half of the feather is still there but its just not as long. Looks as if they were cut in half. Since she is not fully feathered yet will these grow out to normal size or will i just have to weight a year when she's molting, thanks

 

[frizzleman74]

anyone?

 

[Anianna]

I believe somewhere around 12-18 months, chickens molt and their adult feathers grow in.

 

[gritsar]

If the feather shaft is still there and the feather is just broken, you'll have to wait for a molt. Young chicks will go thru several juvenile molts, so it shouldn't be that long. If the entire feather is gone, it will start to grow back immediately.

 

[sourland]

What Gritty said!

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
Three molts and first should just be getting underway at 5 weeks.

 

[Anianna]

They molt at 5 weeks? But they just finally got their feathers in! Poor itchy chookies.

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
They must go through multiple molts starting at actually 4 weeks. They must constantly resize feathers as they grow or loose capacity for flight and staying warm.

 

[frizzleman74]

wow i had no idea, thanks!

 

[twochix]

So what if they are 4 months old?? I just got two chickens from a scary over populated place. One of them has no tail feathers and they do look like they were ripped off.....