Molting in Spring

[nevergiveup]

Anyone got some advice on molting in spring ?

I am new to this game. My first batch of chicks ever = 8 naked neck girls and 1 boy delivered as month old chicks in August last year. I was wanting to have a go at breeding, but all but two of my girls are molting really heavily. One of the ones that isn't molting is OBSESSED with feather eating and has homed in on one very sad looking girl with hardly any feathers left and a spur injury. The feather eater is for the pot, I'm afraid. The other one is broody but we will be going away for a week next week and I don't want to make more work for my chicken sitters. Yes, I am giving them protein rich treats, wild bird seeds, some of our almond crop, milk powder & oatmeal mush, the occasional hard boiled chopped egg, occasionally mealworms from our small mealworm farm. Yes, I have checked, and am checking for infestations and they have a dust bath frequently.

My questions are : 1) is this likely to happen every year now ie molting in spring ? 2) is there anything I can do about it and should I be worried as I am wanting to breed ? 3) is my broody likely to go broody again later in the year ?

Any ideas are welcome. I love my birdies and am doing everything I can to give them a good life.

 

[Free Feather]

Some chickens just molt on their own time. I have ones that molt year-round, especially after they have been broody.
Sometimes, when you give them too many treats, it dilutes the protein in their feed.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

Mine moult when they moult. They certainly have their own time schedule on that. I would definatly remove the feather eater. They are nearly impossible to break the habit.

Nothing SYS you have to hatch in the spring. You could do it any time of year.

As for broodiesagain, they do what they want, when they feel the urge. Mine never consult my calendar and seem to pick the most inconvienant times. Some go broody regularly, some never go broody.

They like to keep us guessing.

Good luck.

 

[Free Feather]

I do not think she would cause your chicken sitter to have trouble. Really, broodies kind of just sit there.

 

[nevergiveup]

Thanks everybody for your support. I guess its gonna be all right with my broody. We've managed to design an isolation cage, so we put her in there with no bedding. I kept her in there for about 18 hours. Once I let her out she went back to sitting, but I gently coaxed her out, only twice, and this seems to have done the trick We had to butcher the feather eater though. Poor thing, but she really was quite manic and vicious too.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

Thanks everybody for your support. I guess its gonna be all right with my broody. We've managed to design an isolation cage, so we put her in there with no bedding. I kept her in there for about 18 hours. Once I let her out she went back to sitting, but I gently coaxed her out, only twice, and this seems to have done the trick  We had to butcher the feather eater though. Poor thing, but she really was quite manic and vicious too. 

 

[whittychick]

My girls are loosing feathers and I can see more are growing back in. They didn't do a spring molt last year, too young, so this is different for me! They seem ok tho, no major pecking or anything