You’ve heard the old expression it weighs “as light as a feather”.
But how much does a feather weigh?
On average, a feather weighs just 0.000289 ounces (0.0082 grams). That’s really light!
Ornithologists frequently study birds and their feathers. The number of feathers on a bird is calculated as a proportion of their body weight.
A typical chicken that is used for meat production weighing around 5 pounds will have feathers that will weigh approximately 74 grams or 3.3% of the chicken’s overall body weight.
On wild birds, they can have anything from 1,000 to 25,000 feathers which can make up to 15 to 20 percent of their total weight.
Each bird will have 2 types of feathers. They are vaned and down feathers.
The down feathers lie underneath the vaned feathers. You may have heard the term down feathers before if you were searching for a cold weather jacket.
Feathers come in all different shapes, colors, sizes, and patterns. Some of the most striking and elaborate feathers are those of the peacock.
~ Fun Fact ~
A swan will have roughly 25,000 feathers.
Resources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feather
https://www.activewild.com/bird-feathers/
http://justfunfacts.com/interesting-facts-about-peacocks/