I'm hoping this is my chicken molting...

Date sort Score sort
klinderman

klinderman

In the Brooder
6 Years
Apr 13, 2013
30
0
24
Connecticut
My 14 month old Cochin started dropping feathers everywhere! We just got back from a week long vacation and noticed her feathers were just falling out all over the place. Our yard looks like a big chicken exploded! We had someone staying at our house tending to the birds, and they said they noticed a lot of feathers and weren't sure if it was a normal thing or not. She seems to be getting bare on her chest, legs, and a little bit past her head. When I picked her up she dropped more from under her wing as well. She appears to be happy, and is laying eggs as far as I know. I suppose my question is, is this what molt looks like?



 
Yeah that's what a molt looks like, like a chicken exploded, they usually stop laying and their combs shrivel up, seems a bit early by a month or two, but I've always had chicks hatched from June on so maybe spring chicks molt sooner. Pretty hen though.
 
It's not early. Fall molt begins in my flock in late summer. I have some three-month old chicks going through juvenile molt and a Brahma and an EE are both dropping feathers. It's like a blizzard in the run.
 
Thanks for you replies! I'm feeling better about it now! I'm sure stress could have been a factor since we were gone and unable to place her in the outside run (Shes the only chicken to afraid to walk down the stairs, but will always fly up). From what I heard it was very hot and, though our coop has adequate ventilation, I'm sure it was still uncomfortable and stressful. I've read a little about molts and that they vary between birds, but does anyone have an average time length they usually last for?
 
If you want to see how bad a molt can be, look at post #45 in this thread. This chicken won the worst molt contest. Sometimes it’s good to know that yours isn’t really all that bad.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-chicken-molt-pictures-winner/40#post_4860373

Different chickens molt for different length of time, anywhere from one month up to five months. As a general rule the production breeds molt faster and the decorative breeds are slow molters but that isn’t always the case. The chicken in the link above is a bantam, not a production chicken. Each chicken is an individual and take however long they take.

How long it takes for them to molt is controlled by genetics. It’s not about how fast the feathers grow back it’s about how fast the feathers fall out. The fast molters can look pretty ragged. You may not even know the slow molters are molting unless you see the feathers flying around. And they lose them in a certain order, starting at the head and ending at the tail.
 
Surprise, surprise, my birds are starting to molt too, feathers in the coop, guess I'm wrong, it's not too early, bad memory.
 

Similar threads

mossyoakpro
Partial molt?
Replies
5
Views
753
GirlsHuntToo
GirlsHuntToo
Cluckingtime
Several of my hens are attacking one hen in molt
Replies
3
Views
897
Cluckingtime
Cluckingtime
Amelise
Just curious— time it takes for a plucked feather to grow back and laying during molting
Replies
2
Views
1K
Amelise
Amelise
missmychicks
Molting causing these behaviour changes?
Replies
2
Views
660
missmychicks
missmychicks
A
Do chickens get new wing feathers?
Replies
2
Views
453
fluffycrow
fluffycrow

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom