^^^ On the other had there are people here who do everything right but they get poor quality productions hens from a feed store that go bald when they molt. I guess it depends on your definition of "stress".
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I have a question. I had 3 hens start molting about 6 weeks ago. It looks to me like they are just about done. My fourth hen started molting about 2-3 weeks ago. She is looking pretty rough right now. My question is, how long does it take before they start laying again and will they wait until the fourth has finished her molt? Thanks
Thanks. I let them free range and I'm afraid they are going to start laying somewhere in the yard without my knowledge. Another weird thing is ever since the molting process started only half of them sleep on the roost. The others sleep in the nesting boxes and I want to put an end to it because I have to clean it almost on a daily basis.There is no set answer unfortunately - each hen is an individual. It depends on how hard their molt was on their body and how much weight they lost during the process. Once they feather back in, they have to get their body weight back up before they can start laying again. When their combs start turning back to a bright red, they are getting close to starting again. Some hens will go through the whole molting process in a couple of months, some take longer. My English Orp usually takes 4-5 months to molt, but she's got a TON of feathers to replace.
I can tell you that it has nothing to do with the molting of others. They start back up when their bodies are ready to.
My cream legbar is finished growing in her feathers, and I can see her putting on weight. She'll be laying again soon.