How to raise Backyard Chickens: RE: [CHICKENS-101] dry brittle feathers

> I have a buff orpenter with dry brittle feathers that break when i pick
her up is this diet related????? She is also turning some white color on
certain feathers. she is only one year and a half.

probably starting to molt, the color usually gets lighter and they start
looking like crap, you can feed them a bit more protein to give some
nutritional support when they are going through a molt. Don't be alarmed
when you find a lot of feathers all over the place and when she stops
laying eggs. I give mine Diamond Naturals either the chicken and rice or
the beef and rice dog food to increase their protein intake and add some
other grains instead of the corn and soy. I soak it with water, in the
summer I give it just before they go to bed so they have their crop full of
food with lots of water to get them through the nights when it is hot. In
the winter I give it to them warm in the mornings.

Marlene
www.Anatolians-of-Zaltana.com
Blog: http://zaltanaanatolians.blogspot.com/ and
http://zaltanachickens.blogspot.com/
Nevada, USA