9 month old hen molting?

[ChopperBambi]

Could my nine month old barred rock be molting? I don't think she's laying anymore, 80 percent of her tail feathers are gone (I've seen nor heard any fighting but have seen a huge amount of her feathers on the ground) and yesterday and today I've noticed that her comb has really turned pale. We're in california so it's not particularly cold at all. She is eating and drinking and moving around pecking at the ground.

 

[DobieLover]

Could my nine month old barred rock be molting? I don't think she's laying anymore, 80 percent of her tail feathers are gone (I've seen nor heard any fighting but have seen a huge amount of her feathers on the ground) and yesterday and today I've noticed that her comb has really turned pale. We're in california so it's not particularly cold at all. She is eating and drinking and moving around pecking at the ground.

Please post some up close pictures of her.

 

[ChopperBambi]

In contrast both my black australorp and buff orpington combs are really big and red. I know she was laying because I regularly had 3 brown eggs a day, now I have max 2 brown eggs. And I haven't seen her in the next box for a while but can't remember if I've seen any of her feathers their recently.

 

[ChopperBambi]

This is her 4 months ago... Watching them now and only my Easter egger is getting a little bit picked on, but I think she's bottom on the pecking order.

She seems redder in this previous picture

 

[halefamily_flock]

Yes. It's normal for pullets to go through a "mini-molt" at 9 months. Nearly all of my girls who turned 9 months around Sept/Oct stopped laying for at least 2 months, and are just now starting to lay again. It wasn't as obvious as my 18-month-olds' hard molt, but they started looking skinny and I could feel pin feathers underneath

 

[vantain]

I have a Barred Rock, also 9 months old, who is just recovering from a molt. It started about a month ago, and she’s almost back to fully feathered. She looks better each day now. She wasn’t eating as much, and stood around a bit lethargic at times. You could see the pin feathers all over her body. It was a very gradual molt over the four weeks. She was never bare anywhere.

 

[vantain]

Oh, and mine also stopped laying, and her comb was not the vibrant red it was. I suspect that will change again when she goes back into lay.

 

[ChopperBambi]

This is her 4 months ago... Watching them now and only my Easter egger is getting a little bit picked on, but I think she's bottom on the pecking order.

She seems redder in this previous picture

Ok good to know. I didn't expect them to molt until next year, don't see any other signs of illness so I told my husband, well I don't know maybe she's dying??

Obviously as a half joke but it's also a chicken reality we were prepared for but haven't experienced luckily.

 

[ChopperBambi]

I have a Barred Rock, also 9 months old, who is just recovering from a molt. It started about a month ago, and she’s almost back to fully feathered. She looks better each day now. She wasn’t eating as much, and stood around a bit lethargic at times. You could see the pin feathers all over her body. It was a very gradual molt over the four weeks. She was never bare anywhere.

Yes, Chopper isn't bare anywhere. But there was a huge pile of feathers the other day then today I noticed only one tail feather is left! Plus the comb color was concerning to me. I hadn't read about that when I learned about molting. You learn something new all the time.

 

[vantain]

I also wasn't expecting it. Prior to this year, I had only four hens, and none of them molted their first winter. They are ISA Browns, and I never saw any noticeable molt on them till this year, and they are almost 3 years old now. For this year, I added 8 new mixed breeds, and of them, only the one Barred Rock is molting. So that is why I was also concerned like you. I think the general consensus is that they can have a mild molt their first year, but if they do, just check them over to make sure it isn't related to any other issues. If you see lots of pin feathers coming in to replace the lost ones, it's probably fine and will run its course.