What does feather eating mean? (I'm sure its not good)

[dawny2u2]

Okay, its winter, but they are getting out a bit, they're in an old 20x30, 2 room cabin ....25 chickens... (Not too crowded, I don't think) All of a sudden I see a bunch of feathers, and a hen gobbling them down. I've been working in the coop on and off all day, and again about an hour later, GRAB, Gobble... DISGUSTING!! They have PLENTY of food! A couple others joined in the feather eating, but it seems to be a certain EE'er doing the damage. What the heckZ???

 

[Miss Lydia]

I've read on here haven't had the problem myself that it's lack of protein. Maybe try adding more protein to their diet, or you might have to remove the feather eater.

 

[Judy]

It CAN mean they need more protein, or they are crowded, or they are bored. I agree, that's not exactly crowded (how lucky of you to have that!)

I believe I'd isolate that EE for a week then put her back, so she will be at the bottom of the pecking order. If everyone else is OK you may just have a crazy chicken....

There are some threads about feather picking linked on the FAQ page.

 

[LauraG]

My cickens did that when they were a little yonger too. (around 5-6 months old)

Used to freak me out. But they stopped as they got older.

They had the best of everything too- go figure.....

 

[ladybug99]

my rooster eats feathers..I was concerned as well.. he was actually plucking them out of the hens backs... I started feeding all the chickens BOSS and added extra protein such as tuna fish, hard boiled eggs and dog food...the plucking stopped now he just eats the feathers that are laying around the coop.. can't figure it out for the life of me... he is 20 weeks old... I hope he grows outta of it

 

[dawny2u2]

Thanks everyone... yeah these feather eaters are about 6 months old, will add protein, though I thought the layer mix with protein would be enough. Alrighty then, good to hear it's not a precursor to cannibalism.

AND, she is mainly picking on the 3 SS, who for some odd reason are all the bottom of the pecking order. I didn't realize if you remove them for a week, it can change that.
Good info!

 

[naturegrrl]

Is this feather *picking* (plucking feathers off of another bird), or just eating feathers that have been molted? All of my girls eat the body feathers they've molted; I've also heard that it is an issue of protein, and I upped my girls' protein with supplements and dried mealworms, but they still grab the occasional feather off of the ground, if it's the right size. I don't actually think it's necessarily a bad thing (and I certainly don't mind that they are cleaning up at least a bit of the feather blizzard they caused!), but introducing some more protein might not be a bad idea.

On the other hand, if you have a bird plucking feathers off of other birds, that's a behavioral issue that needs to be addressed; I've never had to deal with feather picking, but I see someone else has suggested isolating the culprit for a while... not sure what else you'd need to do to modify that behavior.

 

[7L Farm]

I noticed today that my Roo is plucking the hens vent feathers & feeding them back to the hens.