Chicken Molting in spring??

[sunbear1224]

I have a white leghorn hen that just turned 2 years old this past April that now appears to be in a molt. She has lost a siginificant amount of feathers under and on her wings and her breast as well. She does not appear to be sick and is eating and drinking and acting completely normal. She did have a lot of poo on her bottom and I bathed her tonight to remove it. Her poo does look normal when she goes, but was quite a bit stuck in her feathers. I have always heard that chickens typically molt in the fall so I am not sure if this is molt or if there could be something else wrong. I believe she has stopped laying eggs as well, because I have 5 leghorns but have only been getting 4 eggs for a while now.
Any ideas?
Thanks!

 

[ericmcginn5]

did you have a light on your coop

 

[sunbear1224]

Yes, we do have lights on timers inside the coop.

 

[ericmcginn5]

well sometimmes it confusses the hens what time of the year it is and they will molt on the rong time of the year becouse in the wild the sun does not come down at the same time every day like a light would. does that make sesnce i had that problem too

 

[Michael Apple]

Molting can be a stressful time for a chicken. They put all their energy into producing new feathers. Offer the bird some Gamebird crumbles and add a good quality vitamin, mineral-probiotic powder to the water three days a week. If you want specific molt supplements there are some here of good quality to give you an idea:
http://www.jedds.com/-strse-Supplem...ditioning-cln-Feather-Moulting/Categories.bok

I've only used Premolt 100 of the ones listed. It is a good supplement.

 

[sunbear1224]

Thanks so much! I will try the additional supplements like you suggest.