Two month old pullets eating their feathers!

[emulhall]

There is no plucking. They are going through their first molt right now and they are just eating them off the ground when they fall out. I am feeding Manna Pro chick starter feed and they eat mealworms, waxworms, and blueberries as treats. They don’t get them every day. They also have access to chick grit and fresh water. Protein deficiency? Help!

 

[Percheron chick]

Could be. Could be just boredom.

 

[yakitori]

Do you have more information about your set up? Do they always have feed available? how big is their run and coop? free ranged? By molting, you mean the mini molts right? Mine is going through the same, but I don't really see any extensive feather loss. If there weren't a bunch of feathers on the coop floor in the morning, I wouldn't think they were losing any, lol.

 

[Weeg]

How much protein is in there food, you could try to put up some toys to see if it makes a difference. There are some good one's on amazon, that you can try, or you can look at hem on amazon and create your own! Keep us posted, Avery

 

[Ryguy3684]

My latest batch were on a high protein diet, and they still ate some of the fallen feathers with the first couple "mini" molts. Everyone is happy and healthy. They could just be figuring things out. As long as they are eating a proper chick starter, just keep an eye to make sure it's not excessive, but they should be fine.

 

[emulhall]

Do you have more information about your set up? Do they always have feed available? how big is their run and coop? free ranged? By molting, you mean the mini molts right? Mine is going through the same, but I don't really see any extensive feather loss. If there weren't a bunch of feathers on the coop floor in the morning, I wouldn't think they were losing any, lol.

They are in a brooder box (which is honestly much too small for them! working on getting something new) at night. During the days they are with my adult hen and learning to get along with her. So they’re in a 9 foot run during the day, but definitely stressed out. And yeah, just little molts! I don’t see feathers everywhere by any means. There is no extensive feather loss. When one falls out they grab and smack it against the ground like it’s a worm, and literally eat it.

 

[emulhall]

How much protein is in there food, you could try to put up some toys to see if it makes a difference. There are some good one's on amazon, that you can try, or you can look at hem on amazon and create your own! Keep us posted, Avery

18% protein. And I was thinking about that! But whenever I looked anything up, only parrot toys came up. Would that be fine?

 

[emulhall]

My latest batch were on a high protein diet, and they still ate some of the fallen feathers with the first couple "mini" molts. Everyone is happy and healthy. They could just be figuring things out. As long as they are eating a proper chick starter, just keep an eye to make sure it's not excessive, but they should be fine.

Alright! Thanks a bunch. I’ll keep an eye out! They do always have access to food and it’s 18% protein I believe. And they get high protein treats often.

 

[yakitori]

There is no extensive feather loss. When one falls out they grab and smack it against the ground like it’s a worm, and literally eat it.

Awww that’s kind of cute.
Mine were in a brooder box until 2mo old too. But I moved them outside at the crack of dawn, so they didn’t do anymore than sleep inside the brooder. How many do you have?
Mine is mostly in their run with some free range time, supervised. I used to let them free range as much as they wanted... until I spotted a hawk the other day

I entertain mine by giving them a huge pile of leaf litter to dig through, and occasionally scatter a little bit of scratch in there. I’ve also heard of dangling a cabbage (lettuce(?!)) so they jump and peck at it. I’m working on building them a mini obstacle course in their run in a few weeks, but they seem entertained enough for now!

 

[AgnesGray]

18% is on the low side of chick starter protein, but should be ok. I'd definitely get them some boredom busters going. Some things I've done are to add a mirror for them to look at themselves, some tree branches, draw dots on the inside of the brooder walls for them to peck at,... I also second hanging a head of cabbage and if you can't hang it, drop it in and let them peck at it and roll it around. Do they have roost bars? The best thing, as you know, will be to get them out of there.