Molting in August?

[Em Ty]

Hi all, I've got 7 hens; 3 are 2 years old now and molted last fall and 4 are 1 year old. Until recently I've averaged 5.25 eggs a day from the 7 girls, but that's dropped off to 3 or 4 now and I'm not getting eggs from 4 of the girls. Two are 2 years old and 2 are 1 year old.

I've noticed quite a few more feathers in the run and coop from 3 of the hens that don't seem to be laying. I keep popping in there to see if they're laying and eating the eggs, but I haven't seen that yet.

Is it possible that they've gone into molt in August for some reason? Anything else I should be looking for?

 

[GitaBooks]

They could be molting just because, or some sort of stress may have caused a mini-molt, such as a predator scare or a change in their environment. If it is really hot they may not be laying as much, and 2 years-old is the time when they will lay far fewer eggs (mine certainly are). Mine also eat their eggs too. However, they tend to leave a mess in the nest box when they do this. Could they be being bullied at all?
Offer lots of protein to help them grow in nice, healthy feathers.

I hope this helps. Best of luck!

 

[Ridgerunner]

In St. Clements, ON your current length of daylight is about 14 hours (6:10 am to 8:10 pm). In June your length of daylight was 15 hours (5:38 am to 8:35 pm). You’ve lost an hour of daylight. That could be enough to trigger a molt in some hens.