Chickens on strike

[Perris]

Thanks Ridgerunner, they don't free range, they are in a coop with a rambling run which covers quite a bit of the garden, there's no stray eggs in it and no predators, only sheep in the fields next door. I'm curious about the moult (UK spelling) though. This was their first one, and they didn't start until late December, I read it normally occurs in the autumn. The Calder ranger had the most obvious one, her comb is still smaller and pinker, the other 2 just lost a few feathers and looked a bit scruffy, their combs etc are nice bright red.

mine start to moult anywhere between August and January (! yes, really) and we probably have very similar weather, so it may well just be that your girls were late into moult or are slow moulters. Some here get it over and done with quickly but are practically bare for a couple of weeks, others take it slow and steady and you barely notice they're moulting at all!

 

[Mid Wales chicken keeper]

Thanks again, hope they get back to normal soon, hubby has started,d mentioning BBQ sauce to them

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm curious about the moult (UK spelling) though.

Two countries separated by a common language.

Different things can cause a molt. The most common is the days getting shorter (technically the nights getting longer). The natural cycle from before they were domesticated was that they lay eggs and raise chicks in the good weather months (spring and summer), then stop laying and replace worn-out feathers in fall/winter. They stop laying when they molt so the food that was going to egg production can go to making feathers. They don't restart laying until the food supply improves and days get longer.

With domestication we've changed some or this a bit. Practically all mature chickens will molt when the days get shorter but some (not all but some) skip the molt their first fall/winter and may keep laying all winter. These often continue laying until the normal molt the following fall.

Other things can cause a molt at any time though. It often involves stress. One way to trigger a molt that the commercial operations use is to keep them from water for a while. They have veterinarians that supervise this, it's not for the common people like us. Sometimes changes can cause a molt. That could be moving them to a new coop/run or changes to their current set-up. Adding or subtracting members of the flock, especially dominant members, may trigger a molt. Maybe a predator attack. The egg laying cycle goes from start of lay to several months of good laying and then it tapers off. Egg volume and quality can suffer. These cycles may last 13 to 16 months typically. At the end of this cycle the hen may molt and stop laying to replenish her body.

Then there is the partial molt. A full molt follows a certain pattern. They start by losing feathers from their heads and necks and continue in a certain pattern. This may take a bit over a month or as many as five months to finish. The length of time it takes is mostly hereditary. But some only do a partial molt. They do not replace all of their feathers in the pattern but only some. They will probably stop laying during this partial molt but they can recover and start laying again fairly soon. As you can see the molt covers a lot of territory.

One sign a hen is laying or is close to laying is that her comb and wattles get bright red. When she's not laying the comb and wattles can be more yellow or orange. I've had hens with yellow combs lay eggs and hens with bright red combs not. There are a lot of exceptions to this, each hen is an individual, but it is often a pretty good sign. To me, the only thing consistent about chickens is that they are inconsistent.