How much feather loss is normal?

[nickylou665]

What is a "normal" amount of daily feather loss for chickens?

I'm a first time flock person, and while I was prepared for poop inspections to be a part of my life, I wasn't really prepared for the amount of FEATHERS everywhere, it looks like a chicken or five have exploded in the coop. This feels like such a dumb question, but is daily shedding normal?

I've had my flock of seven since April, they are a mix of breeds and all around three and a half to almost four months old. It's occurred to me that they may still be growing in their adult plumage and this is just a moult, but I'd like some reassurance that either this is temporary or that this is normal and I should recalibrate my expectations of how much feathers chickens shed...

No bald patches on the chickens that I have seen, no witnessed feather pulling aggression by any of the ladies. No other signs of stress in the flock... So, is this normal? I'm just paranoid I'm not chickening right.

Feed: Agrimaster Chick Starter, but I'm about to start the transition over to adult feed in the next couple of weeks. They get a variety of treats that I rotate through - mealworms, grapes, watermelon, and access to free ranging on greens in my backyard. Research into feather loss shows me that maybe if it's a diet issue I could supplement with protein?

 

[Chickassan]

Baby molting is normal, my little ladies have no tail feathers at all. They look like kiwi birds.

 

[PennyM]

I got 4 of my babies at the end of April and 2 EEs two weeks later and am experiencing the same thing. The first 4 (well 3, now) are just about done with their baby molt but the EEs are still molting big time. I didn't know what it was until someone on here (don't remember who) told me what was going on.

 

[Revan]

I think heavy molting is fairly common. My layer hens are all molting right now and one has a naked butt right now. A few downy feathers, but otherwise very much a pink bottom. She looks kinda ridiculous right now, the poor thing, but I already see her new feathers coming in. With all the feathers in my coop the past couple weeks, I probably could stuff a pillow or two.

 

[Dawnclucks22]

When my BR (my fluffiest bird) molted, oh goodness... like you said, it was like she exploded! She had a huge bald spot on her back for weeks. Don't worry, this is normal.

 

[Renn]

I'm having the same thing so it must be normal lol! I got my 10 in beginning of may, and the coop is just litered with feathers! There is defienetly no aggression going on, they are all very nice to each other so far, so I'm assuming it must be molting!

 

[aart]

Baby molting is normal, my little ladies have no tail feathers at all. They look like kiwi birds.

Yep, this^^ is likely the issue...it's the last juvenile molt.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Baby molting is normal, my little ladies have no tail feathers at all. They look like kiwi birds.

Yep - there are several mini molts of varying degree that they go through from down to fully feathered adult sized birds and this can lead to the coop, run, yard, etc looking like the morning after a slumber party pillow fight. Things will settle down soon for your girls and then the next big molt will be at about 18 months.

 

[nickylou665]

Thanks for the reassurance everyone! I was almost sure that this was a normal part of young bird life, but a tiny part of me was worried that I was doing something wrong.

 

[cmom]

I agree with the other posts. During the birds first year they will go through several molts of varying degrees. Some may go through heavier molts and some lighter molts. After their first year they will go through a yearly molt which again some birds may go through heavier molts than the other birds and some molts may last a bit longer. Most birds will stop laying (if they are laying yet) during their molt and some may not stop but will lay way fewer eggs.