Heat Forced Molting?

[janiedoe]

Hi Christine, welcome to BYC. I'm in East Texas also. Some of my birds are molting. I've found that mine like mud. Around 2 pm every afternoon, I water down a large area until its muddy. They scratch in it and as it evaporates it cools the air by several degrees. It's a rough time of the year for chickens. Good luck!

 

[Burnt Brass Homestead]

Hi @Christine Wilson

Welcome!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Welcome to BYC @Christine Wilson

 

[chrissynemetz]

Good luck with your flock.

 

[Lovely Lettie]

Welcome to our awesome community! Nice to meet you

 

[Kenneth Zweerink]

Welcome to BackYard Chickens. The Best of Luck with your Flock! And a Big Hello from Eastern Nebraska.

 

[N F C]

Hi, it's been a long, hot summer and hard on everyone...good luck with your flock and best wishes that your weather starts to cool off soon.

 

[Boppo]

Glad to meet you, and welcome to BYC. Stress of all kinds can tip a chicken into molting, but mine are molting too, up here in cool New England. They need new feathers for winter. I do try to make sure the ladies who are in molt, and especially a hard molt, get some mealworms or black fly larvae or other protein source. But you do have to be sure it's not too much. Kiki gives good advice.

Here is an article about keeping chickens cool and how to recognize heat stress and treat it. Here is another article about chickens molting.

There are periodic discussions about keeping birds cool during hot weather. Here is a poll with comments that are helpful . And here is an article about hot climate chicken care and housing. Ventilation can be very important to keep your chickens cool and healthy. Here is an article about ventilation, with links to different coop designs with good ventilation, organized by climate type.

 

[007Sean]

Howdy, Christine and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.

Happy to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
My birds started about two weeks before they normally do, whether I was due to a heat issue I really can't say, with certainty. I'm in South Texas.

Thanks for joining our community!

 

[swampfox440]