make the feathers fly

From the way feathers fly in all directions when chickens fight.

make the feathers fly (third-person singular simple present makes the feathers fly, present participle making the feathers fly, simple past and past participle made the feathers fly)

1. To cause a big upset or fight.

There are a number of variants of this phrasal verb, such as "make feathers fly" "cause feathers to fly", etc.

• watch the feathers fly
• make the fur fly