Adopted 4 adult hens. Not Laying. One in Hard Molt. One may be getting ready to molt.

[holmanchicks]

Hello -
HELP! New chicken Mom here. Just adopted 4 hens from a friend. The 4 have been together for a long time. We got their coop, food, hay, etc... all has been "normal" for them except the location and different humans. One of those humans is a 6yr old which is new to them.
From what we know, the 3 bantams are appx 5yrs old. The bigger hen is appx 2. The breed of each is unknown. 2 of the bantams appear to be sister-looking, pure white with recent red combs. Our "baby" is a small bantam, greyish with no comb. The only big one should be black & white with no comb and has been in a hard molt since we got her (4 weeks ago) and still looks rugged.
My concerns are for Flower (big one) and little Noodle (baby).
Biggest worries are for Noodle. From what I understand she was injured a while back and nurtured by human hands through the injury. She's sweet, comes when called, follows us around and likes to be held. Just a sweet girl. Her feathers are rougher than the white girls but doesn't look to be molting. She has the runs. You can hear her go poop (like she farts). She gets it in her bottom feathers and makes her look awful. She has to be uncomfortable and I don't want bugs to get in it. In the past 4 weeks I've given her 4 warm water bowl baths. Scrub her lightly but thoroughly and have had to cut a few feathers b/c I can't get the poop out and the feathers drag. I've been told she may be getting ready to molt, but I have no clue. She likes to chill out away from the others, relax and close her eyes. But she doesn't seem to be an "outcast" and the other girls do seem to like and include her. Is it stress? Gearing up to molt? She eats and drinks almost more than the others. Any advice?
Then Flower... She's been in a hard molt since we got her. She started appx 2 week prior to us getting her. She still looks like a train wreck. We've put out cat food and tuna for her. Read protein helps? She's not that into people so when we try to feed her she walks away but will eat when we're not right there. She's just so unapproachable and hasn't seemed to look much better from when we got her. How long do molts last?
We're in the NW so it's been cold and rainy. However I do know that the bantams laid a few eggs within a couple days from us getting them. Trying to figure it all out. On the verge of calling the vet, especially for Noodle.
This may be a lot, but I'm trying to learn.

 

[missnu01]

Have you checked for mites. Do any of the feathers around the chickens vents look quill like, or like q tips? Go at night with a flashlight and take a chicken And turn them upside down and check all around their vents and places where you can clearly see their skin and just look for bugs. Molting can take awhile too. Usually a bird that doesn't yet have a bigger red comb isn't old enough to lay yet so that might be part of your issue. How long have you had these chickens? What are you feeding them?

You are also very unlikely to get a regular supply of eggs from a 5 year old hen. Really a hens production starts to drop off slowly once they are 2 or 3... Newly laying chickens lay the most. I have 5 pullets that started Laying within the last couple months and from 7 laying chickens I don't get less than 6 eggs a day...4 are bantam barnyard mixes so their eggs are very small, but that's alright. I guess. I like a larger egg, and we have an olde leghorn that gives us a 63-67 gram egg every other day, and a buff Orpington that started laying 2 months ago that gives us 70-75 gram eggs everyday, except sometimes one day a week she takes off. I have gotten 4 eggs a day from 4 newly laying pullets since they started laying about 2 weeks ago...so an endless supply of small egg in the fridge