Stress....Some of mine do look terrible. I don't have anything to compare to. My two old RIRs look great but they don't lay. I have pigeons and they are molting, but they do not (evolutionarily cannot) lose so many feathers at once. I have lovebirds in an outdoor aviary and it is the same for them... They have to be able to fly. And they don't have the demands of an egg tract like a chicken does. Some of my birds molt gradually and that seems less stressful, but takes longer. (and still you see the decrease in egg production...) From a commercial perspective, the chickens that drop all their feathers at once might be back in production sooner. Will have to see... but with the change in seasons and the increase in new hens from spring hatch (and a few new young roosters too) the the molt is just one aspect of the transitional stress the birds are under.
I am hardly getting any eggs at this time. (My 11 mature hens are averaging 2 eggs total a day). I think that is alright for a flock of Marans.... (I have not read anything on this subject)....(Feedback?) if these were production egg chickens they would already probably be replaced. I don't manipulate my birds with lights or any of that. So over the winter egg production suffers.
For feather replacement I am feeding them a higher protein diet (Purina Flock Raiser) and any kind of meat or insect is snapped right up. I also give them medicated chick starter. It is higher protein and has the ampicillin in it which is good for when they are under stress... When it looks like the molt is almost over, I will worm them. You do not want to push them. Just let them do their thing. I free range them all day so they get plenty of sun and air. I will cull two more young roosters this weekend which will further reduce the stress in the environment. I am not used to having so many good looking roosters. Usually it has been easy to decide which to keep. But I have three that look pretty good and I probably will keep my old Roo so 3 Roosters total max means two more have to go.
