Mid-June Molt?

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

I have a flock of five hens who are all a little over 4 years old. Two of the five are starting to molt--a buff orpington and a RIR hybrid. The buff orpington had a light/mini-molt already in May, where she stopped laying for a couple of weeks and lost a small amount of feathers. This molt is looking a bit more dramatic. Both chickens stopped laying last week and started dropping feathers over the last few days. A third chicken stopped laying but so far isn't molting. The other two are laying like crazy.

Beyond the molting behavior--feather loss, less consumption of feed, slightly less vibrant combs--they appear well. No signs of illness or mites. I did de-worm them with valbazen 8 days ago due to seeing a roundworm in poop (they'll get their second dose on Monday).

 

[Farmgirl1878]

I have a flock of five hens who are all a little over 4 years old. Two of the five are starting to molt--a buff orpington and a RIR hybrid. The buff orpington had a light/mini-molt already in May, where she stopped laying for a couple of weeks and lost a small amount of feathers. This molt is looking a bit more dramatic. Both chickens stopped laying last week and started dropping feathers over the last few days. A third chicken stopped laying but so far isn't molting. The other two are laying like crazy.

Beyond the molting behavior--feather loss, less consumption of feed, slightly less vibrant combs--they appear well. No signs of illness or mites. I did de-worm them with valbazen 8 days ago due to seeing a roundworm in poop (they'll get their second dose on Monday).

Pretty sure a couple of my older girls are molting now too. My Salmon Faverolles, Butterfly, has lost quite a few of her tail feathers and is CRABBY!! She’s only crabby when she’s molting (or begging for treats!). My blue Cochin has blown out a lot of her down and butt fluff. I’ve seen a lot of tail and wing feathers from my blonde EEer too. They’re five, so maybe not that unusual. The two year olds and the year old groups are looking pretty much the same, but I do see more than a few feathers from my Partridge Cochin and my Barnevelder (both one year olds).

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Pretty sure a couple of my older girls are molting now too. My Salmon Faverolles, Butterfly, has lost quite a few of her tail feathers and is CRABBY!! She’s only crabby when she’s molting (or begging for treats!). My blue Cochin has blown out a lot of her down and butt fluff. I’ve seen a lot of tail and wing feathers from my blonde EEer too. They’re five, so maybe not that unusual. The two year olds and the year old groups are looking pretty much the same, but I do see more than a few feathers from my Partridge Cochin and my Barnevelder (both one year olds).

Thanks for sharing your experience! I'm thinking that maybe it's somewhat common for older (4+ years) hens molt multiple times a year? For my two, it seems that they are molting a bit lighter than their more dramatic Fall molt, though my BO has done it across two phases (first in May and then again this month, with laying eggs in-between). I also wonder if the cooler-than-normal June temps here have been throwing some of the hens off.

As long as it's normal/healthy I'm honestly happy for the molt. First, it will help them stay cooler in the summer heat; and second, it will give them a much-needed break from laying. I'm all about my hens taking breaks or retiring entirely, now that I've experienced how common reproductive disease (all my hen deaths so far have been due to reproductive disease/infection related to excessive production). Have yours who are molting taken a break from laying, too?

 

[Farmgirl1878]

@buffy-the-eggpile-layer, yep, the older girls are taking a break. The Partridge Cochin and the Barnevelder don’t lay every day anyway, but I do think they’ve skipped a few days here and there. I don’t mind as we have eight dozen eggs sitting on the counter anyway! I prefer that they do take breaks from laying. (For that reason, I don’t add lighting in the Winter.) My alpha, the SF, always gets crabby and naps under my chair a lot when she’s molting. This time, she’s napping under the camo shade netting just outside the run.

 

[Farmgirl1878]

@buffy-the-eggpile-layer, yep, the older girls are taking a break. The Partridge Cochin and the Barnevelder don’t lay every day anyway, but I do think they’ve skipped a few days here and there. I don’t mind as we have eight dozen eggs sitting on the counter anyway! I prefer that they do take breaks from laying. (For that reason, I don’t add lighting in the Winter.) My alpha, the SF, always gets crabby and naps under my chair a lot when she’s molting. This time, she’s napping under the camo shade netting just outside the run.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

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Thanks for sharing your experience! I also want them to take breaks... the longer, the better (for their health). My molting girl is cranky, too. She sleeps in and looks disgruntled every day. Your SF looks quite cozy!

 

[Farmgirl1878]

Me too, we are always overrun with eggs! I don’t mind their breaks. And yes, Miss Butterfly is quite comfortable under her camo netting. The other two SFs are molting now too. I’m calling it their third juvenile molt as they are only a year old… Feathers, feathers everywhere!

Thanks for sharing your experience! I also want them to take breaks... the longer, the better (for their health). My molting girl is cranky, too. She sleeps in and looks disgruntled every day. Your SF looks quite cozy!

 

[TXChixRock]

I just posted on another thread about 4 of my 14 early molting. It’s super hot here, we’ve had temps in the 100+’s since June! I’m in Central Texas and we usually only have August with those temps. Looks like we’re getting 3 months of Aug this year! The 4 molting are the heavier breeds with the worst molt by my big Wyandotte. My heat tolerant Andalusians & Leghorns and the smaller breeds are happy as clams. (They’re getting spoiled with all the heat mitigation we’ve been doing). Feathers are coming in very very slowly, unlike their fall molt. We’ll see how many more start blowing feathers!

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

I just posted on another thread about 4 of my 14 early molting. It’s super hot here, we’ve had temps in the 100+’s since June! I’m in Central Texas and we usually only have August with those temps. Looks like we’re getting 3 months of Aug this year! The 4 molting are the heavier breeds with the worst molt by my big Wyandotte. My heat tolerant Andalusians & Leghorns and the smaller breeds are happy as clams. (They’re getting spoiled with all the heat mitigation we’ve been doing). Feathers are coming in very very slowly, unlike their fall molt. We’ll see how many more start blowing feathers!

Sounds like a blessing! I always feel for the chickens who molt heavily in the middle of the winter... it's probably a relief to lose those feathers in the central Texas summer (and no wonder they aren't on a rush to grow 'em back)! I've never learned of this early molt is normal, but I guess it does happen and doesnt seem to have negative implications. Stay cool over there!