My 1 year old BO is going through her first molt. I suppose everywhere else in the country this would probably be the time for molting- but where I live it's still summer hot so it seems a bit odd. None of my other chickens are molting. She's pretty crabby about the molt- she insists on being called Princess (Princess Sunshine) because she is the beauty of the coop and now she's the ugly duckling.
My Houdan - 1.5yo - just went through her first full moult <feathers everywhere!!!> and has grown back most of her feathers except her beard & tail. She went broody at the end of June and just came out of it a couple weeks ago. She started moulting right after that. I'm thrilled because the rest of the flock pecked her bald-headed over the Winter and I was afraid she'd never get her crest back. Oddly none of the others - Delawares & Black Stars - have lost any significant amount of feathers yet. One or two had bald bellies for a while (sympathetic broodiness?) but those are mostly grown back. We're getting some chilly nights here & I hate to think of them being nekkid in that weather. But I guess Mom Nature knows best.
I have a plethora of d'Uccles all shedding at once. Millie and lavender feathers everywhere! If you pick up a bird she has porcupine-looking skin!
I have had at least a few molting since June. Some do it in the summer, some fall, and then there are the idiots that wait till winter. Matt
I don't have a "molter" right now. I have SIXTEEN crabby, grumpy, ill-natured, non-laying, ugly, featherless vultures. All of whom are eating enough food for an Army platoon.
Quote:Yep, that would be my flock a week ago. Thankfully they are molting rather quickly this time and my egg production is going back up (right after I bought 2 dozen store bought eggs I might add!)
