- May 28, 2014
- 15
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Hey folks, I have a chicken that is molting I believe, lately (last week, week and a half) she has been losing feathers and today I noticed all the feathers on her rear end, part of her back, tail and wing feathers are missing. I looked up molting pictures and it looks like that is what's going on. Lately the other 5 chickens have been bullying her. She was the alpha chicken since they were born but now it seems they are no longer having any of that. We have caught them pecking at her and chasing her around the yard, so she seems to be staying away from them both in the coup and outside the coup. Will this stress trigger a molt and most importantly she is molting in december and here in upstate NY it's going to get real cold. we have a heat lamp in the coup but we are afraid that won't be enough to keep her warm if the others start messing with her and she retreats to the laying boxes. We have her in the basement right now under a heat lamp but can she stay outside (25 degrees right now but getting colder by the day) or should she stay in the basement until her feathers return? thanks for the advice, Anthony
