Ended Official BYC Contest - Worst Chicken Molt Pictures - Fall/Winter 2015

Angie16hearts said:

This may sound stupid! I once Hurd there are no stupid questions

does a chicken grow back there plumage while they sleep ? If I did not supplement light this year . Would that help them get through molting faster?

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jackieo61028 said:

The pictures are all great, but I also feel a little bad for the poor things.

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NorthFLChick said:

I feel kind of badly for them but what's interesting to me is how their behavior seems to undergo some changes with molting.

My molting SS who is normally a sociable girl, kind of hangs back away from the crowd and spends time hiding behind the run door when they are all outside. The EE does this funny full out charge on things, stops suddenly, stares into space, then charges again. The 3 BR girls hang together grooming each other. And the RSL girls are being real pills constantly pestering everyone else.

All I can figure is that they are uncomfortable, maybe itchy, and it's making them act funny.

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Teila said:

Yeah, my Dusty, who is the only one of the flock who seems to hard moult, mopes and sulks and if she was not moulting, you would think she was very unwell. She also stays away from the flock and hides under the coop, roosts on her own etc. You can see the spark has gone from her eyes. When she is not moulting, she is also very sociable and a sweetheart .. it must be so uncomfortable for them.

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Mariejulianna said:

AFAIK they grow their feathers non-stop until they come in... I think a timelapse molting video would be pretty funny!! I supplement my light in the run that filters into the coop ALL year round because they have their own personal solar panel. I actually leave it on all night and shut it off in the am and my girls lay really well. You will notice that when they are in the last 2-3 weeks of their molt they hang out in the dark themselves... mine do anyway. I will find them sleeping in a dark nesting box and my girls keep this up until they are gorgeous again. Maybe they don't like being called a porcupine... but if you have more than one hen, it might not be worth it to cut the light for all of your hens. I guess after all that I'm just saying they will avoid the light themselves if they have to as long as there is an area in the coop that does not get lit. This is my two cents. actually it may work ! My two hens that are molting the worst are my banties. They have there own coop. Also, they both have been staying up in the house not in run but in the morning and evening . Almost like they are broody.

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