Do feathers become dull when molting?

[helkat]

One of my hens seems to be molting. She lost some chest feathers and now all of her feathers seem pretty dull.

 

[TexasVet]

The feathers get very dull and feel stiff and brittle. I think it's sometimes painful for the hen to brush up against them. Has to do with the body shutting off the blood supply to the feathers so they can "die" and then be replaced.

Kathy, Bellville TX
www. CountryChickens.com

 

[purpletree23]

Molting is very stressful for the chickens. Make sure you give them poultry vitamins in their water and lots of protein. I give mine scrambled egg that has cooled and mix it with cottage cheese. Looks YUK but a tablespoon per chicken every other day will help a lot.

Yogurt once a week will help and (some disagree) a handful of dry cat food every other day will help. Cat food has a lot of protein from meat. Dog food gets it's protein from grain and the chickens already get enough grain.

 

[helkat]

Thanks for all the info!