My Buff Brahma pullet Joyce has about three tail feathers left, most of her back feathers are gone (no rooster action), and her neck looks like a cactus with pin feathers sticking out.
Her neck feathers have been missing for months, and her back feathers more recently, but her tail feathers seem to have all fallen out in the last three days. I do see the beginnings of new ones, though. Joyce is lowest in the pecking order, and gets pecked all the time, but it just occurred to me she may be going through her first molt when I saw a pile of feathers under the coop this evening.
Can it happen this young? I thought it would be a year after onset of laying, and it's only been five months.
Her neck feathers have been missing for months, and her back feathers more recently, but her tail feathers seem to have all fallen out in the last three days. I do see the beginnings of new ones, though. Joyce is lowest in the pecking order, and gets pecked all the time, but it just occurred to me she may be going through her first molt when I saw a pile of feathers under the coop this evening.
Can it happen this young? I thought it would be a year after onset of laying, and it's only been five months.