Dry brittle feathers

[Mcook512]

Did you worm her during the molt using fenbendazole, commonly sold as Safeguard. That can cause the feathers to come back weird. I'm sure other things could affect the feathers growing back but that's the only one I know of.

Yeah, she will probably look like that until she molts. If she stopped growing them in October it's highly unlikely anything will change until she molts. The only diet change I's suggest is to give her a few BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds) each day. Not many but a few. The oil in the BOSS might help with the feather dryness. BOSS has a lot of oil, you don't want to overdo it.

Chickens can be forced to molt by modifying the amount of light they get and stressing them by withholding water. I'm not sure if diet affects that or not. But with the water don't try that except under the guidance of a qualified veterinarian. It's too dangerous if you don't know exactly what you are doing. If you can I don't see any problem trying to trigger a molt if you can add extra light for a few weeks and then cut if back maybe 15 minutes every other day. That could work but it could also kick all your other hens into a molt.

In your case I'd live with it.

Thanks for the reply. The only treatment was a single Elector PSP treatment, a month after molt started. I can treat her with BOSS, she will love that. She seems to get along fine with her feathers. They don’t seem to be super sensitive and she tolerates being held. I guess we will just have a little naked girl until this next fall.