Comb Color Change and Molting

[outdoorschick91]

Hello all!! I am fairly new to chickens, I had had my girls for a little over a year and a half now, and am having issues with one of my girls. She is a buff orpington and I am assuming that she is molting because she lost a lot of feathers around her head & neck. I had read somewhere to give them wet cat food to give them a protein boost and that seemed to help a bit; I noticed they stopped falling out so much and started growing back in. But she still looks half the size she was due to decreased feather volume, her sister now looks 2x her size. The 2 things that concerned me were the fact that she and my other 3 girls have slowed down/stopped laying for the past 4 weeks. Also I noticed the comb and ears of the molting chicken are very pale/discolored; it is no longer that vibrant red color. Are these both normal?
-Attached are 2 pictures, my molting lady is the blonde on the left and her sister is the blonde on the right

 

[azygous]

They do get their first big molt at this age. And it's normal for the head gear to fade from bright red to a pale pink. The comb will appear to shrivel. It all comes back when they become fertile again.

You might try Feather Fixer for feather rebuilding. (Just don't try to ferment it, as it smells terrible when it does.)

 

[outdoorschick91]

Thanks so much for the advice!!! I am glad to know my chickies are all okay