They usually stop laying during a molt, but not always, they need their nutrition to grow feathers(almost pure protein) so stop using it to produce eggs. Yes, they can seem tired and irritable while growing new feathers in, those pin feathers can be sensitive to touch. Upping their protein, animal protein, can help grow feathers faster.
I'm pretty sure all chicken breeds molt.
Make sure she has food availabe at all times. Molting can be very hard on a bird. It's normal for them to lose some weight, but with a really hard molt, they can lose a lot. It's a time that they are uncomfortable, so they generally stick to themselves. She will get back to normal behavior when she is done molting.
They may have gone through a minor molt, and you did not notice. Do you light your coop? This will delay, but not avoid, molting.
Yes, they will stop laying completely. Feathers are mostly protein, so they need all of their food energy to go into feathers. It takes a lot out of their bodies, so they cannot lay eggs during this process. Once their feathers grow back in and their weight is back up to a safe level, then they will start laying again.
Yes, all breeds molt. Some of my roosters are molting at the moment.
so I don't know if that was the case or what. Share comments please.
Yep, that's molting. It looks like a pillow exploded.Glad you posted picture. I got 3 hens that were born late January - mid February. Only 2 are laying (one just this week). The silkie has not layed as of yet. One day I came home to white feather EVERYWHERE. I thought something got into the pen but the other two were fine. Could this have been a hard molt? Our pen is covered as well by the way. Then I thought maybe the chickens got into a fight. She's the smallest of the 3 but they have been raised together since they hatched at a friends coop. Of course they are girls and you know how girls can have spats -
