What Happens When Chickens Molt?

Great article! It's one of the most basic and informative articles I've read on the subject.

Great article about molting. Well organized, great information, and great pictures.

Thank you so much! This is going to be rough on me, too, I imagine. They're just about 23 weeks now. But I will know what is happening and won't worry AS much. And I know what to do and what not to do.

Awesome article! Very educational!

Very cool article! You will be able to know what molting is, and it answers all your molting questions.

pretty good. my hen molt a ton. thanks

Great information with pictures for visual learners like me.

My broody hen was having difficulties and didn't hatch her clutch of eggs. So I hatched them for her in the incubator and gave her the chicks. She began molting soon after I gave her the chicks and finished molting shortly before she finished rearing them. I wasn't sure what was wrong with her because it was the first time "we" had hatched eggs. Now she looks beautiful again.

Thanks! Lots of good info.

Excellent detail, with helpful hints. Lots of useful information, with great pictures that illustrate your points. Thank you!

Very detailed and informative!

Loved this article! And I very much appreciate the suggestions, I've been looking for ways to help them through their molt.

Good, helpful article. Now I know why my yard is covered in a carpet of feathers. I have 38 juvenile chicks (an assortment of 15 breeds of bantams and standard size) that are between 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 month old and are in the middle of their juvenile molt, plus 3 adult standard size chickens, 2 gens and 1 rooster, that are now, at 15 months old, starting their first molt.

One thing I wish was included in the article is information on molting roosters (seems only hens are mention in articles on molting chickens). My Polish rooster have been losing tail and hackle feathers. Do roosters experience hard molts? My 2 Wyandotte hens have been losing feathers near the base of their tail, which I first thought may have been pulled by the rooster Bowie during mating. The still growing juvenile chicks shed feathers every day but the feather loss is pretty much unnoticeable on their bodies.

Also would have appreciated photos of molting chickens, both of female and male chickens, to prepare those of us with what our chickens may look like during a molt. Guess I can just use Goggle to look at photos of molting chickens.

Would like to know how to clean up so many feathers from the yard, to keep them from falling through the fence and onto the sidewalk and driveway. I live in Queens, NY and can be fine $300 to $1000 for any trash dumped on my sidewalk by people that walk by or that park in front of my house, so I have to make sure to keep the sidewalk clear of trash and free of feathers. In the yard, I sweep the feathers with a broom a couple of times a week, in the coop and run/pen's bedding of sand I sift them out of the sand about once a week. I'm thinking of getting a leaf blower with vacuum feature, hoping it can pick up the feathers on top of the yard soil, and other areas of the yard and the driveway.

Anyway, thanks for the helpful article.

Great article. Very informative!

Very helpful article for a new chicken owner!

Fantastic article!!! Thank you so much. It is so incredibly helpful and much needed. I found myself reading it saying "wow, I had no idea or omg that totally makes sense!!" Thanks again!!

Great info. Looks like I will be adding ACV to my girl's water. The only question I have about molting now is - what do you do with all the feathers lol?

I had no idea this would be in my future. We have our first flock and they're still juveniles. Should oatmeal be cooked or is raw okay?

Our adult chickens are beginning their first annual molt. I am so grateful for this article as I now know what to expect and how to help! Love my chickens for all the bug eating and egg laying they provide. Thank you so much for this timely and informative article!

Great article, and much more 'real' than most molting articles. I had one hen, my sweet Rosie, who always molted fast and would be naked! I would feel so bad for her - her usual outgoing, top hen behavior would change..she would become secretive and hide.