Feathers. They’re the one of the most notable features of your beloved chickens. Whether your chicken breeds are hard-feathered (smooth and sleek), soft-feathered (fluffy), or frizzled (chaotic curls and twists), you want them to look their best.
Annual molting challenges your chickens’ good looks for a time, but this is normal. Explore what you can do to help your backyard chickens through their molt and minimize any feather loss due to other issues.
What Is A Feather?
Before diving in to how to keep your chickens’ feathers as healthy as possible, let’s answer a basic question: What is a feather? Put simply, the beautiful quill, shaft, vane, and barb structure you see is made from 91% protein, 1% lipids, and 8% water compounds. The protein is mostly from beta-keratin, which also helps make up the beak and nails of chickens.
Chicken feathers are for more than just looks. Your chickens’ appearance might be one reason you chose the breed or breeds, and looks might help a chicken attract a mate, but other feather functions include:
• Insulate chickens from temperature extremes, especially cold, and provide some waterproofing
• Protect chickens from predators (hide their body in feathers, give limited flight ability, camouflage with colors/patterns)
• Provide input by sensing vibrations in the air or via sound
What To Expect
Molt happens. It’s a fact of life for chickens older than 18 months, or thereabouts. When and how molt happens can vary. It depends on breed, environment, care, and other considerations. Normally when days begin shortening and light decreases, it signals chickens to switch from egg production to creating strong, new feathers to face the winter. That’s right. During molt, egg production usually drops or may stop completely. Molt can begin in late summer or fall and last for two, three, four, or even five months (two to three months is the average).
Chickens often molt starting from the head down to the tail, but sometimes the feather loss is random. Their feathers may appear duller before molting begins. Chickens may experience a hard molt, where they lose many feathers all at once, or a soft molt, where only a few feathers drop at a time. Some people believe that the better layer a chicken is, the harder the molt will be. It can take four to six weeks to grow a feather. Feathers start as pin feathers that are tightly rolled up within a sheath of keratin. As they grow, the sheath falls away and the feather unfurls.
Besides molting, keep in mind that backyard chickens “wear” their feathers for about a year. This means that how they look can also depend on the environment and care. Do they have daily access to a dust bath? Are they living in roomy accommodations that minimize the risk of breaking feathers?
Unexpected Feather Loss
Backyard chickens can lose feathers for many reasons beyond molting. Stress, protein deficiency, boredom, parasite infestation, disease, bullying, and overmating are some of the more common. You might need to put on your detective hat to figure out what’s causing feather loss if the reason isn’t obvious. Things to ask: Is most or the entire flock affected? That points more toward stress, diet, infestation, or disease. Is the feather loss only on one or a few chickens in specific areas? This could point to bullying, overmating, a broody hen, or even boredom. Consult your flock veterinarian, as more than one factor could be the cause.
Nourish Those Feathers!
One of the more common reasons for feather loss or feathers looking poorly is diet. Check the percentage of protein on the food you’re feeding. Laying chickens require a high-quality layer feed with 16% protein. When molting occurs or you want to offer your chickens a bit more protein and added nutrients, consider a supplement like Booster Berries Radiate, which is specifically formulated to enhance the health of chicken feathers.
De-Stress Your Flock
Stress is one of those variables with almost infinite causes. Loud noises, bright lights, overcrowding, predators, inadequate food or water, new flock member(s), extreme temperatures, dirty conditions in the coop area, and more are some obvious causes of stress. Less obvious causes can also affect backyard chickens. Our flocks like routine. If you’re not providing a consistent routine, that can be detrimental. Or maybe it’s something as simple yet strange as a piece of jewelry, new scent, statue added in view of the coop and run, or any other change in the environment. Loss of feathers can be the result of any of these.
Watch For Signs Of Trouble
If you keep an eye on your flock to watch for unwanted behaviors and look them over regularly for signs of parasites or illness, you can minimize any ill effects. For bullying, boredom, and overmating, try separating either the bully or the bullied, providing enrichment activities, and consulting your veterinarians if you suspect an infestation or illness. These situations are simplified here, but this gives you some idea what to do.
It’s All About The Flock
When you provide your backyard chickens with what they need, most of the time you’re rewarded with happy, healthy chickens. A quality diet and supplements; plenty of fresh water; a clean, dry, roomy coop and run; acceptable ambient temperature, lighting, and stress levels in the living area; dust baths; enrichment opportunities; and more all contribute to a thriving flock with members that look as good as they feel. That’s the goal!
