Darn you! Blasted chicken!

[FrizzleFreak]

I was sick for a week(the dreaded flu) and now that I'm finally coming out of the haze....
NOOOOOO!!!!
My best Sumatra hen, Indira, Champion Large Fowl Hen and Best of Show Large Fowl AND Third overall poultry at Oregon State Fair, that I was going to take to the PNPA show in 2 weeks, has gone into an enormous moult!

She looks like a black Araucauna now(minus tufts)! She literally shed her entire tail, and her feathers are all loose and....

Indira, how could you? You have two weeks to grow back every single feather in perfect condition!
Is there anythign I can do to speed this process? If she lost all her feathers in week, it will surely take much longer to grow them back.....I've never paid attention with any of my other birds, mostly because my main showbirds are roosters, who don't tend to do the full body molt as often. Plus, they're frizzles, and nobody can tell anyway.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Well, lots of good oils will help: sunflower, safflower, flax, fish. But you are looking at at least a month--probably more like 6 weeks--before she is back in feather.

Stress or drastic changes in food or lighting or temperature can cause a molt.

 

[AilsVonHelson]

My phoenix hen did the SAME thing! I was in complete shock.

Our show is in november, and she seems to be gaining back her feathers at a rapid pace. Thank god for kitty food.

 

[gottalovemychickens]

Quote:
woah woah woah , did you say kitty food ? And what kind , also what effect does it have on the chickens ????


WANTING TO LEARN !!!!

 

[popcornpuppy]

Quote:
I also have read that cat food will help during molting. It is high in animal protiens, not grain proteins. I feed my cats a high end cat food called Taste of the Wild. It is a dry food. If you choose to feed cat food to chickens, look for one with the main 3 ingredients as meat, not grains. You can also feed canned cat food. I feed B.G. (before grain). The canned food makes more of a mess, but if you don't mind it, it will work just as well.

 

[Hoosiermomma]

We use black oil sunflower seeds, some oatmeal, dry cat food and wheat germ oil when our birds are moulting. It works well here!Good luck!

 

[Goose and Fig]

Don't mean to go off topic- but since you mentioned cat food-
My big hens have been eating all of the yellow bites out of our dog's food. It has brown & yellow pieces, and they just pick out the yellow ones- leaving a bowl of brown bits. Goofy birds!

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Did you happen to tell the birds that they were going to the show?


That makes my birds molt faster than the mention of an ax....

 

[AilsVonHelson]

Yes, kitty food for all the animal protein they need! It makes the feathers grow back pretty quick. I can't wait for the show in November, hopefully my hen is out of moult!


Hope yours grows back soon too!

 

[wombat]

We use small amounts of canned cat food to help recover from molt.