Complete molt or something else?

[ginny_e]

Hello,
I've got a year and a half year old cochin hen that is dropping her feathers like crazy. I checked for lice/mites, and nothing. Her skin looks really healthy, but if you touch her, her feathers fall out. She's not picking at them either. Within a day she has huge bald spots.
I moved her out of the coop and into a dog crate in the basement, because I didn't want her to freeze to death. I've given her some warm flannel and old towels to cuddle with, and she is doing so. She seems to be acting okay, eating, drinking, pooping and fussing at me (she likes to boss everyone around).

Has anyone had a chicken molt like this? All my other ones molted in the fall, the normal way, a little bit at a time with the new feathers growing in. They looked ragged, but no bald spots like this.

I have had birds of all sorts for about 20+ years and never seen this.

 

[BDutch]

Can you post a few photo’s?? Difficult to see if it still is a normal molt or not without.

 

[ginny_e]

Here are a few that aren't great. I didn't want to disturb her again (I just changed the bedding). You can see the bald spot near the tip of her wing feathers. It is like that on her breast as well. The bottom photo is her full feathered in all her normal fluffliness.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Really hard to see in the photos. Does she have new growth coming in? (pin feathers)

Chickens molt at different rates. If she is not lethargic, is eating/drinking well, active, etc. then I would leave her with the flock.

 

[ginny_e]

Yeah, they aren't great. I can try and get better photo's today, though I don't think it will be easy to see because of her surrounding fluff. I haven't seen any pin feathers coming in yet, but honestly was pretty distracted by the rate of feather loss. So I'll take a closer look at that too. I really don't think I can leave her with the flock, we have fresh snow today with temps of 28 F. She's got a considerable patch of bare skin on her back and breast, and would freeze. I even worry about the basement being a bit too cold.
She does seem to be eating and drinking normally.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yeah, they aren't great. I can try and get better photo's today, though I don't think it will be easy to see because of her surrounding fluff. I haven't seen any pin feathers coming in yet, but honestly was pretty distracted by the rate of feather loss. So I'll take a closer look at that too. I really don't think I can leave her with the flock, we have fresh snow today with temps of 28 F. She's got a considerable patch of bare skin on her back and breast, and would freeze. I even worry about the basement being a bit too cold.
She does seem to be eating and drinking normally.

Do you have a rooster that may have caused some mating damage?

I've had naked hens in those temperatures (even colder) due to molt and they were fine. I suppose a lot has to do with your coop/run set-up. If she has a place where she can get out of the wind, coop has some deep bedding, etc., then she would likely be better off (and happier) with the flock.
Being in a warmer than outside basement for several weeks until she feathers back in - how are you going to re-acclimate her when it's time to go back outside - say with January temperatures when it probably will be even colder.

 

[ginny_e]

She seems to be doing pretty well. There are pin feathers coming in, and she is eating and drinking well (plus the other end). My gut says it is just a weird molt.

 

[ginny_e]

So an update on my special chicken.

She was just doing a more complete molt, during the winter. So I ended up keeping her in the basement in a dog crate until her feathers came back in, at least enough that she wasn't bald. We lucked out and had some 40 degree days, so I put her out back in the chicken run during the days. Since she had been away from the mini-flock (I've got 4 chickens and 2 runner ducks), they picked on her, but not badly. So at night I would rotate one member (different member each night, and immediately turned the lights out) of the flock to stay with her in the crate at night, until her feathers came back good enough for an overnight stay outside. I did have to keep an eye on her, and make sure I put food all over the run so the other's couldn't prevent her from eating or drinking. First couple of nights out, I had to put her into the coop, then one night she went back into the coop on her own, and back to normal. She is part of the flock again. It was a pain, but I think worth it. She had been shivering when she lost her feathers.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

So an update on my special chicken.

She was just doing a more complete molt, during the winter. So I ended up keeping her in the basement in a dog crate until her feathers came back in, at least enough that she wasn't bald. We lucked out and had some 40 degree days, so I put her out back in the chicken run during the days. Since she had been away from the mini-flock (I've got 4 chickens and 2 runner ducks), they picked on her, but not badly. So at night I would rotate one member (different member each night, and immediately turned the lights out) of the flock to stay with her in the crate at night, until her feathers came back good enough for an overnight stay outside. I did have to keep an eye on her, and make sure I put food all over the run so the other's couldn't prevent her from eating or drinking. First couple of nights out, I had to put her into the coop, then one night she went back into the coop on her own, and back to normal. She is part of the flock again. It was a pain, but I think worth it. She had been shivering when she lost her feathers.

Glad to hear things are going well! Thank you for the update