Concern about my bird

[rebrascora]

It is early for a moult but she is showing all the symptoms of it. This year mine went right off their layer feed but were wolfing off their daily greens. I went out and bought grower and they shunned that as well. They were still reasonably keen for mixed corn but not as keen as they had been. Meat scraps were another matter altogether and scrambled egg. They were prepared to kill each other for them.... They really seemed to want proper protein and greens. Previous years I've free ranged them, so this is the first moult where they have been penned and this behaviour has been so apparent. I can only assume they were finding plenty of insect/nematode protein during previous years scratching in the muck heap etc.

I must confess I have been pretty worried about their lack of appetite this moulting season but thankfully they are over the worst of it and back to eating regular feed again now.

 

[azygous]

My crew seem to be nearing completion of their molt. The gallons of feathers I've been bagging up would equal several whole chickens in weight. All that feather building requires a lot of protein.

I offer canned mackerel a couple times a week throughout molt. There's nothing better than high grade animal protein to prop up nutritional needs during this period.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

When my girls are going through a moly I add some feather fixer feed to their regular feed to give them an extra boost. Good luck with your hen.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

I've seen several people recently question a strange molt.
I have an 8 moth old molting. When I asked about it people chimed in and said they too have young ones who seem to be molting.
Sometimes chickens throw us a curve ball. They do things that don't make any sense to us. In the end they are fine and go about their chicken business.
Kudos to you for noticing and asking! Keep up the good chicken parenting.