Is there a term for feathers where the is a smaller feather with its own narrow shaft branching off the main one? I've seen pictures of "double plume" emu feathers, but those seemed more symmetrical and couldn't' find any examples of the term applied to chickens, so I assumed it must be called something else. The picture below is from a feather that one of my 3-month-old Buff Orpingtons discarded recently; they are getting lots of feathers like this and I've just never seen this kind of thing in other birds I've kept in the past (mostly parrots and finches). I assume these feathers have something to do with cold hardiness since my chickens started getting cranky about temperatures over 80F as soon as the new feathers starting appearing in large numbers.
Also apologies if I put this thread in the wrong place; wasn’t really sure where it belonged.
Also apologies if I put this thread in the wrong place; wasn’t really sure where it belonged.