Just molting right?

[rachellou76]

She's a golden comet/red sex link She looks pitiful. None of my other chickens look like her. She won't let me pick her up and this is about the best picture I could get. My Jersey giant molted last year and looked similar. My run has been muddy and I thought it was mud at first but I think she's molting.

 

[TheEggCollecter]

What region do you live in?

 

[rachellou76]

NE Ohio. We got her from West Virginia about a month ago and she looked like she was starting a molt. Now, she looks like this.

 

[TheEggCollecter]

hmm this is odd. Shouldn't be molting right now i think.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

How old is she?

Red Comets are commercial hybrids that typically molt at 18 months of age and are generally programed for a hard molt...hard and fast vs. slow and lingering.

Although typically done at fall time, it often has more to do with age. If she is anywhere from 1 to 1 1/2 years, she could be entering her first molt....if she is older, she could be doing her annual molt just off timed from others. I just had a 3 year old BSL go through a hard molt this February...she was the only one who did so....I think as she had been broody this summer and had done a soft molt then such that her hard molt came at a different time than the others (the others were in the expected fall time).

Just to be safe, I would double check for lice/mites....go to her at dusk when she is roosting to be able to grab her without having to chase her down. Look at her vent to make sure you don't see any crawling bugs or nits.

LofMc