9 months too soon for molting?

[the lemon tree]

I noticed today that my 9 month old Red Sex-Link has some missing feathers on the back of her neck; it almost gave me a heart attack. The area isn't bloody and the bare patch looks pretty symmetrical. I understand that the neck and head area are the first places where they start losing feathers in a molt, but I'm a little concerned because I read that they don't start molting until around 18 months of age. Could it still be possible that this is the cause?

ETA:She hasn't laid an egg for nearly a month now...

 

[goldeneggtees]

I have a 10 month old B/O who is molting now too. She is also losing feathers on the back of her neck. I went into the coop last week and saw alot of feathers all over the floor. I got scared, not knowing what happened. Now I see it is Juliet who definitely seems to be in molt. what a terrible time of year to do it. It's so cold out.

 

[the lemon tree]

Yup, if she is indeed in a molt, I feel so bad for her. There's nothing sadder and more pathetic than seeing a naked chicken running around in the middle of winter.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Nope, not too young. Mine started molting at 9 months.

 

[bywaterdog]

sometimes young chickens go through a "light "molting, not to hard on them- but it looks really bad to the new owners who had never seen this before.

 

[gsim]

I had a lot of feathers shed amongst my flock in Aug when they were 3 mo old, None got bare looking tho. They began to lay in Sept at 4 mo age. Apparently from what I read on here, molt can come in cold weather too. That is hard to take. I suspect I would do something to shelter mine, but then , they can always stay in the coop.

 

[little_grey_bantam]

Ugh, all my girls molted and look spectacular! My boys are molting and looking UGLY! lol They're about 11 months old

so yes I believe they can molt at 9 since my girls molted around that time!