Unsecure chicken perches

[vickichicky]

Hi, bit of a quandry.

My chicks (11 weeks old) are eating shed feathers! They are not pulling them out but when a fluffy one (in particular) drops out they all rush to eat it!

Then this morning I noticed hard feathers (with the thick quill) like wing feathers - half eaten down the length.

I am worried they are going to get stuck! Do you think they are lacking in anything? They are on growers pellets & some home made food from the Chicken farm around the corner (real good stuff with extras in it like peas/beans/garlic/bran/seaweed etc). Is it boredom?

Any advice gratefully received!!

[Redwing]

If there are no other signs of boredom I'd guess that its simply just a bit of a habit

 

You could try cutting out the treats and feeding the growers pellets only just in case its a protein problem although at 11 weeks thats probably unlikely