This year my hen, Alice, had the heaviest moult I have ever seen so I am sharing a time line of images to show what chickens can look like when losing and regrowing their feathers.
Warning: images of semi-naked and spiky chicken to follow.
25th January 2020
This is Alice (front).
Alice is an lavender/dove grey Araucana who lives in Australia. She hatched on 12th March 2019 and is 10 months old in this photo.
20th February 2020
Alice had been suffering from feather picking in her saddle region for some months. I sprayed her with "Cetigren", which is hot pink and tastes bad, to help discourage it.
She is 11 months old here and there are 8 days left of the Australian summer. She has not started her moult.
31st March 2020
Her moult hasn't really started yet. She has lost only a few feathers and the pink spray is wearing off. She is just over 12 months old and we are 4 weeks into Autumn (Fall).
3rd April 2020
Three days later and her moult is just starting. Notice the bald patch on her shoulder?
From here on she loses feathers explosively. Some readers may find the following pictures distressing.
7th April
This is only 4 days after the previous picture. There were grey feathers all over the run and the coop. She only has one tail feather left!
Note the red patch on her back where the feather pecking occurred. This area remained dry, scaly and sore looking until the new pin feathers were almost full length. If you look closely you can see the beginnings of the pin feathers poking through the skin on her back and shoulders.
Alice from the front.
She is also losing feathers on her chest and her neck (though those can't be seen at this point).
8th April
Her tail and fluffy butt are almost completely bald. The tips of the pin feathers are getting obvious on her tail, shoulders and upper back.
Her chest and legs are losing more feathers. She is fluffed out as it is getting quite cold at this point.
I have given her warm porridge (oatmeal) with some tinned fish mixed through for protein. You can see that some of the new pin feathers at the base of her neck have started opening out over her upper back. That single rogue tail feather is holding on grimly!
11th April
Those pin feathers are coming along nicely, including over her sore spot. She is losing feathers on her head with tiny pin feathers coming through too. She shakes her head a lot over the next couple of weeks. It must be very irritating.
Her keel is very noticeable in this photo as are those nasty looking quills!
Even her legs are moulting. She is starting to look like a secretary bird!
A close up of her back. The pin feathers look like porcupine quills to me and look at that dry itchy looking skin! I just wanted to take a brush and some moisturizer to her at this point which of course would do more harm than good. Handling a chicken with pin feathers should be avoided as the feathers are easily damaged and can bleed. I had to content myself with biting my nails anxiously.
The only warm feathers that are left are those on her neck and wings. I have noticed her shivering on cold mornings and she has taken to hunching her shoulders and spreading her wings along her sides to try and stay warm. She is also roosting earlier than usual. This gets her out of the cold Autumn winds.
12th April
Alice warms herself in the early morning sun.
13th April
This picture really gives a good idea of how many feathers she has lost.
The tips of some of the pin feathers on her lower back are starting to break open. Also note the single rogue feather sticking out of the top of her head!
15th April
Wings being used for warmth again. Notice the pin feathers around her face and top of her neck.
It has been less than 2 weeks since I first noticed the onset of her moult. It feels a lot longer.
16th April
Even though her comb is quite red, she hasn't laid since the end of March.
Her back and tail feather quills grow noticeably longer each day.
A closer view of her back. There is still a lot of dry , flaky looking skin under there.
She is eating and not avoiding her flock..... though she looks more like a porcupine than a chicken now!
17th April
Most of her skin is hidden by quills now, which is better, but still not as warm as open feathers!
A closer view from the side. You can see that her flight feathers are very worn. These did not fall out until the very end of her moult when most of her body feathers had opened.
18th April
Demon chicken!
Notice all those pin feathers hiding in her hairdo.
19th April
The tips of the chest pin feathers have broken open.
The pin feathers at the base of her skull are quite long now.
20th April
Lots of feathers are opening!
The chest area is getting good coverage.
21st April
That is looking warmer. You can see the pin feathers under her hair do.
Feeling feisty!
22nd April
Her legs are mostly covered now.
It was such a relief to see her preening again and getting rid of all that dead skin and cuticle.
23rd April
She is eating well.
She almost looks like a hen again.
25th April
Although there are still feathers opening out under the visible feathers, I am no longer worried about her getting too cold. I haven't seen her shivering for days.
She is confident feeding around her canine flock mates. There's that rogue feather, still hanging on to the top of her head!
27th April
Some of her feathers, especially around her neck, still have some growing to do.
...but the worst of the moult is over.
This moult took from 3rd April to 27th April from the baldest point to almost full coverage. Three weeks and 4 days. It seemed much longer to me!
22nd May 2020
Alice is in her full glory now. She even has new flight feathers.
That rogue head feather has vanished into the puffy hair do....
...but she still has a rogue tail feather!
Warning: images of semi-naked and spiky chicken to follow.
25th January 2020
This is Alice (front).
Alice is an lavender/dove grey Araucana who lives in Australia. She hatched on 12th March 2019 and is 10 months old in this photo.
20th February 2020
Alice had been suffering from feather picking in her saddle region for some months. I sprayed her with "Cetigren", which is hot pink and tastes bad, to help discourage it.
She is 11 months old here and there are 8 days left of the Australian summer. She has not started her moult.
31st March 2020
Her moult hasn't really started yet. She has lost only a few feathers and the pink spray is wearing off. She is just over 12 months old and we are 4 weeks into Autumn (Fall).
3rd April 2020
Three days later and her moult is just starting. Notice the bald patch on her shoulder?
From here on she loses feathers explosively. Some readers may find the following pictures distressing.
7th April
This is only 4 days after the previous picture. There were grey feathers all over the run and the coop. She only has one tail feather left!
Note the red patch on her back where the feather pecking occurred. This area remained dry, scaly and sore looking until the new pin feathers were almost full length. If you look closely you can see the beginnings of the pin feathers poking through the skin on her back and shoulders.
Alice from the front.
She is also losing feathers on her chest and her neck (though those can't be seen at this point).
8th April
Her tail and fluffy butt are almost completely bald. The tips of the pin feathers are getting obvious on her tail, shoulders and upper back.
Her chest and legs are losing more feathers. She is fluffed out as it is getting quite cold at this point.
I have given her warm porridge (oatmeal) with some tinned fish mixed through for protein. You can see that some of the new pin feathers at the base of her neck have started opening out over her upper back. That single rogue tail feather is holding on grimly!
11th April
Those pin feathers are coming along nicely, including over her sore spot. She is losing feathers on her head with tiny pin feathers coming through too. She shakes her head a lot over the next couple of weeks. It must be very irritating.
Her keel is very noticeable in this photo as are those nasty looking quills!
Even her legs are moulting. She is starting to look like a secretary bird!
A close up of her back. The pin feathers look like porcupine quills to me and look at that dry itchy looking skin! I just wanted to take a brush and some moisturizer to her at this point which of course would do more harm than good. Handling a chicken with pin feathers should be avoided as the feathers are easily damaged and can bleed. I had to content myself with biting my nails anxiously.
The only warm feathers that are left are those on her neck and wings. I have noticed her shivering on cold mornings and she has taken to hunching her shoulders and spreading her wings along her sides to try and stay warm. She is also roosting earlier than usual. This gets her out of the cold Autumn winds.
12th April
Alice warms herself in the early morning sun.
13th April
This picture really gives a good idea of how many feathers she has lost.
The tips of some of the pin feathers on her lower back are starting to break open. Also note the single rogue feather sticking out of the top of her head!
15th April
Wings being used for warmth again. Notice the pin feathers around her face and top of her neck.
It has been less than 2 weeks since I first noticed the onset of her moult. It feels a lot longer.
16th April
Even though her comb is quite red, she hasn't laid since the end of March.
Her back and tail feather quills grow noticeably longer each day.
A closer view of her back. There is still a lot of dry , flaky looking skin under there.
She is eating and not avoiding her flock..... though she looks more like a porcupine than a chicken now!
17th April
Most of her skin is hidden by quills now, which is better, but still not as warm as open feathers!
A closer view from the side. You can see that her flight feathers are very worn. These did not fall out until the very end of her moult when most of her body feathers had opened.
18th April
Demon chicken!
Notice all those pin feathers hiding in her hairdo.
19th April
The tips of the chest pin feathers have broken open.
The pin feathers at the base of her skull are quite long now.
20th April
Lots of feathers are opening!
The chest area is getting good coverage.
21st April
That is looking warmer. You can see the pin feathers under her hair do.
Feeling feisty!
22nd April
Her legs are mostly covered now.
It was such a relief to see her preening again and getting rid of all that dead skin and cuticle.
23rd April
She is eating well.
She almost looks like a hen again.
25th April
Although there are still feathers opening out under the visible feathers, I am no longer worried about her getting too cold. I haven't seen her shivering for days.
She is confident feeding around her canine flock mates. There's that rogue feather, still hanging on to the top of her head!
27th April
Some of her feathers, especially around her neck, still have some growing to do.
...but the worst of the moult is over.
This moult took from 3rd April to 27th April from the baldest point to almost full coverage. Three weeks and 4 days. It seemed much longer to me!
22nd May 2020
Alice is in her full glory now. She even has new flight feathers.
That rogue head feather has vanished into the puffy hair do....
...but she still has a rogue tail feather!
How is she going now?