Chickens Feathers Geoing back slow and funky

[Sweet Road Island Reds]

Very weird, she did lose a lot of feathers and it looked like prickly things. Her comb also turned pale.

Did you raise her from a chick? It also could have been environmental? Or her picking. Did you have a picture of her when it happened?

 

[aart]

My Silver Laced Wyandotte molted about 2 months ago and she was 10 months old. I don't understand?

partial molt(happens sometimes in the first fall/winter)

 

[Sally PB]

My Silver Laced Wyandotte molted about 2 months ago and she was 10 months old. I don't understand?

My pullets did a partial molt this past fall/winter at 9 months old. Their combs and wattles got smaller and paler.

I knew they were getting ready to get back to business when their combs and wattles got fuller and redder.

 

[Sweet Road Island Reds]

My pullets did a partial molt this past fall/winter at 9 months old. Their combs and wattles got smaller and paler.

I knew they were getting ready to get back to business when their combs and wattles got fuller and redder.

Mine didn’t they kept laying all winter / only their legs got pale.

 

[ImAChick]

Did you raise her from a chick? It also could have been environmental? Or her picking. Did you have a picture of her when it happened?

I raised her from a chick and we live out in the country. It was warm when she first started partially molting? I do not have a picture, or if I do I accidentally deleted it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’m not sure google says 16-18 months so around a year and a couple months

That's pretty true if you raise them like the commercial egg operations do. From the day they are hatched those chicks are raised in special lighting conditions where they never see sunlight. All they see is length of days controlled by artificial lights. They are bed, fed and managed in ways so they start laying at a certain age regardless of what time of the year they hatch. After laying an egg almost every day for a year or more they are going to get burned out, egg production drops and the quality of the eggs they lay deteriorates. To get them laying profitably again they need to molt them. That's pretty regular in commercial flocks.

Somehow I doubt your chickens have never seen sunlight. They are raised and managed differently so you'll get different results. Some (not all but some) pullets lay through their first winter. Some don't. Some molt, some don't.

 

[ImAChick]

That's pretty true if you raise them like the commercial egg operations do. From the day they are hatched those chicks are raised in special lighting conditions where they never see sunlight. All they see is length of days controlled by artificial lights. They are bed, fed and managed in ways so they start laying at a certain age regardless of what time of the year they hatch. After laying an egg almost every day for a year or more they are going to get burned out, egg production drops and the quality of the eggs they lay deteriorates. To get them laying profitably again they need to molt them. That's pretty regular in commercial flocks.

Somehow I doubt your chickens have never seen sunlight. They are raised and managed differently so you'll get different results. Some (not all but some) pullets lay through their first winter. Some don't. Some molt, some don't.

Do you know anything about a hen that's not laying any eggs at all? She is currently 1 year old or almost a year old and she has not shown any signs of laying. Her breed is a Silver Laced Wyandotte.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do you know anything about a hen that's not laying any eggs at all? She is currently 1 year old or almost a year old and she has not shown any signs of laying. Her breed is a Silver Laced Wyandotte.

I'll start off by asking a silly question, how sure are you that it's not a rooster?

Some women can never have a baby. Some men can never father a child. Otherwise, they can be quite healthy. A hen's internal egg making factory is pretty complicated. It's possible something is wrong to the point she will never lay an egg.

A possibility I think is more likely. I've had pullets start to lay at 16 weeks. I've had other pullets not lay their first egg until they are 9 months old or even older. I've had hens getting over the molt or pullets laying their first egg start laying in the dead of winter. I've had some wait until the longer days of spring. It's possible she was late to start. By the time she was ready to lay the days were really short so she is waiting on the longer days of spring.

If she does start she may lay great, 6 eggs a week. Or she may be one that lays only 1 or 2 eggs a week. Either is possible, it's also possible she will never lay.

Many people on this forum have this mythical mystical belief that all hens of a certain breed are identical. I see posts like that all the time on here. That's not the real world. Each one is an individual. If you have enough SLW hens most will probably follow the breed tendencies reasonably closely, but you will also have some that are way away from those tendencies on either side. Leghorns and Rhode Island Reds are supposed to never go broody, yet on rare occasions some do.

I don't know why your SLW pullet has never shown signs of laying. For all I know she may be laying and hiding a nest. Lots of things are possible. She may never lay or she may start next week. I don't know.

 

[ImAChick]

#1.) I'll start off by asking a silly question, how sure are you that it's not a rooster?

Some women can never have a baby. Some men can never father a child. Otherwise, they can be quite healthy. A hen's internal egg making factory is pretty complicated. It's possible something is wrong to the point she will never lay an egg.

A possibility I think is more likely. I've had pullets start to lay at 16 weeks. I've had other pullets not lay their first egg until they are 9 months old or even older. I've had hens getting over the molt or pullets laying their first egg start laying in the dead of winter. I've had some wait until the longer days of spring. It's possible she was late to start. By the time she was ready to lay the days were really short so she is waiting on the longer days of spring.

If she does start she may lay great, 6 eggs a week. Or she may be one that lays only 1 or 2 eggs a week. Either is possible, it's also possible she will never lay.

Many people on this forum have this mythical mystical belief that all hens of a certain breed are identical. I see posts like that all the time on here. That's not the real world. Each one is an individual. If you have enough SLW hens most will probably follow the breed tendencies reasonably closely, but you will also have some that are way away from those tendencies on either side. Leghorns and Rhode Island Reds are supposed to never go broody, yet on rare occasions some do.

I don't know why your SLW pullet has never shown signs of laying. #2.) For all I know she may be laying and hiding a nest. Lots of things are possible. She may never lay or she may start next week. I don't know.

#1.) I know she isn't a rooster because she doesn't crow at all and she doesn't have any saddle feathers or long tail feathers. She sounds like a hen/pullet to me.

#2.) I forgot about something but I remember now. I see her go into the nesting boxes but when she comes out, there is never any eggs. Another thing is, I see chickens pecking and eating eggs behind our back so I have to go outside every 30 minutes to an hour.

My concern is, will we have to wait for her until she lays or do we have to take care of her? (I don't do it because I'm too emotional..) We have 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes. One has more white then the one that isn't laying. Both their combs are red. I have no idea at this point, so confusing. Thanks anyways! I put a picture with it and it isn't the same chicken but looks like this one. Although she has less white on her head and more black than white. I also added another which looks more like her too.

 

[sassychickens76]

I can't be sure, but that looks like she has pulled out her breast feathers for a nest. Could she possibly have a hidden spot somewhere?