11 week pullets have feathers everywhere

[FC16]

Very confused this morning I’ve currently got some 11 week old white star pullets and when letting them out I noticed their coop/run had lots of feathers everywhere.
I didn’t think it was possible for them to molt this young, or at least very unlikely?
They all hatched together and I’ve never seen any signs of conflict/pecking between them.
Anyone have any ideas what this could be?

 

[SmiYa0126]

That's not bad actually, perhaps a juvenile molt? Is anyone fighting?

 

[FC16]

That's not bad actually, perhaps a juvenile molt? Is anyone fighting?

No one’s fighting from what I’ve seen. I’ve never actually heard of a juvenile molt, I don’t often breed them from young.
Perhaps that’s what it is

 

[FC16]

No one’s fighting from what I’ve seen. I’ve never actually heard of a juvenile molt, I don’t often breed them from young.
Perhaps that’s what it is

I’ve just searched up about the juvenile molt, and a few articles are saying about it being the males that tend to go through this, hoping this is false information as I was sure they were all female

 

[NatJ]

Very confused this morning I’ve currently got some 11 week old white star pullets and when letting them out I noticed their coop/run had lots of feathers everywhere.
I didn’t think it was possible for them to molt this young, or at least very unlikely?
They all hatched together and I’ve never seen any signs of conflict/pecking between them.
Anyone have any ideas what this could be?

Chicks molt several times as they grow. The chicks usually have some feathers at all times (not completely bare the way some adult hens get when they molt), but they definitely do lose enough feathers to be obvious in the coop & run.

If they are otherwise healthy and acting normal, I would not worry about it.

 

[FC16]

Chicks molt several times as they grow. The chicks usually have some feathers at all times (not completely bare the way some adult hens get when they molt), but they definitely do lose enough feathers to be obvious in the coop & run.

If they are otherwise healthy and acting normal, I would not worry about it.

Thankyou

 

[Ridgerunner]

Boys and girls both have juvenile molts. The chicks outgrow their feathers and have to replace them. Think how silly they would look if adult chickens still had feathers the same size they did at 5 weeks old.

I’ve just searched up about the juvenile molt, and a few articles are saying about it being the males that tend to go through this, hoping this is false information as I was sure they were all female

I don't know where you read this nonsense. I would not be surprised if it were somewhere on this forum, you can read a lot of misinformation like that. If something doesn't sound just right it is often a good idea to get a second opinion and either get confirmation or denial.

 

[SourRoses]

Every batch of chicks we've raised goes through stages like this. The feathers have to get bigger as the birds grow, but at the same time the little ones have to stay covered so you usually can't see where they've lost feathers (except the tails, which look really funny sometimes).

I read in an old poultry book that it takes approximately 5-6 feather change-outs before juveniles reach their final size, but that it could not be precisely counted because of breed differences and the way it's more of a continual process.

 

[NatJ]

I’ve just searched up about the juvenile molt, and a few articles are saying about it being the males that tend to go through this, hoping this is false information as I was sure they were all female

For certain colors of chickens, the males are more likely to have an obvious color change during juvenile molts. I've had some where both genders of chicks had a pattern of brown and black feathers, then the males turned almost solid red/gold as they molted while the females stayed almost the same appearance as before.

So I can see how a person might THINK that only the males were molting at that age-- but I've picked up plenty of chicks and looked closely, and both genders lose/grow feathers at those ages.



I don't think either of these apply to your chickens, but mentions of chicks molting can often be found in threads on butchering or wing clipping. For butchering, it's easier to pluck fully-grown feathers than partly-grown pinfeathers. For wing clipping to reduce flying, those flight feathers have to be re-trimmed every time the chick gets new ones. So both of those topics have good reasons to talk about chicks growing new feathers. When you're raising layer pullets, you don't have to do anything different while they are growing new feathers, so it doesn't get as much attention.

 

[FC16]

Boys and girls both have juvenile molts. The chicks outgrow their feathers and have to replace them. Think how silly they would look if adult chickens still had feathers the same size they did at 5 weeks old.


I don't know where you read this nonsense. I would not be surprised if it were somewhere on this forum, you can read a lot of misinformation like that. If something doesn't sound just right it is often a good idea to get a second opinion and either get confirmation or denial.

Thankyou, I did think it sounded odd but as I rarely raise them from young I panicked a bit

This article online, plus a couple others, started talking about males having a juvenile molt which I either have misinterpreted or they’ve worded it strangely which made me think it’s a thing that the males do.
Anyway, I’m glad it’s all completely normal and thank you for your help