feathers Archives - GoatKeepers Press

Feathers litter my hen house floor, the chicken yard, the free range area, everywhere I look. Several of the chickens look like refugees from a feather factory.

There’s nothing wrong with my chickens or the rest of the wild birds. Fall is molting time, the time when old, ragged feathers are replaced with new ones.

My Easter Egger Pippi is usually a sleek grey with a proud tail. Right now she is covered with feathers dropping off and new feathers starting to grow in. She likes to spend the day in the milk room picking up the grain the goats drop.

Examining Feathers

One of the first things I notice about all of these feathers is how different many look. Of course, there are the usual ones with their long, central shaft. These are the ones in pictures as they were used to make quill pens.

Chicken wing feathers aren’t very big, but they are big enough to make a model quill pen. The white wing feather is from a smaller pullet. The brown quill is from an adult chicken. The first is from the front of a wing as the uneven sides show. The other is from lower down on the wing or, possibly, the tail.

Chicken quills can make small pens, but goose quills and, especially swan quills were the preferred choice. Quills are wing feathers.

When I use fingers to smooth these ragged feathers, they try to lock together again to form the wing feather they are supposed to be. Tiny hooks or barbs lock together to zip the pieces into place.

Other Feathers

It’s hard to find nice down feathers. All that fluff sticks to bits of dirt, leaves and other things. Being fluffy, it’s hard to get this debris out of the down. These are very soft feathers.

Other feathers are soft with the side pieces branched and puffy. These are down. Chicken down could be used in pillows, I suppose. Duck and goose down is preferred. Just as in jackets and comforters, down is used to keep a bird warm.

Down only works if it is kept dry. Body feathers do this job. These resemble down at the base, but have a top more like wing feathers at the top, only softer. Lots of these overlap over the bird’s body.

The amount of down on a chicken’s body feather can vary. The top sections should hook together, but these old ones don’t do it well.

Tail Feathers

Tail feathers can be very elaborate and showy. My roosters have long tail feathers. I did find one, but it was very ragged. Peacock ones are prized for decorations. Every once in a while I will find a turkey tail feather off on the hills. Molting time is a good time to go looking.

Molting Time Problem

Making feathers takes lots of protein and energy. My chickens are using their food to make up their new feathers which will make them look gorgeous.

There is little food left over to make eggs. Shorter days add to this and older chickens will often take a winter holiday lasting to the end of January.

My pullets are taking up the slack. Their eggs may be small, but I still have eggs in the kitchen.