Do your hens go off their usual feed when they moult?

[TheFatBlueCat]

An update! My rooster and his sister just had their first adult molts (18ish months) they looked very rough and they DID go off their feed. The hen lost a lot of weight and was very miserable. She's fine now. Feathers grew back very quickly but she dumped a lot of them all at once. She was fat and doesn't go broody so it really was a good diet for her health!

In this photo rooster has his mojo mostly back, hen not so much.

 

[rural mouse]

Silver, 2.5 year old colombian wyandotte, free range, quit eating commercial feed. Lived on scratch (with sunflower seeds and a bird nut mix added) and forage including EVERY grasshopper she could find for a couple of months. She also ate a lot of grass seed (right off the stems), certain grasses and ignored others (dunno much about grass so not sure about types). She's doing a slow moult, looks great head, neck, breast, wings. Behind wings through tail scraggly. Started laying again a week ago. Now topping up with pellets at bedtime.
Pear, 1.5 year old partridge rock, light moult, still off commercial feed. Also started laying again a week ago.

Contributing factors to ceasing to lay: significant changes to the flock over the summer, unusually hot temps.
Feed is an all flock mix, 18-20% protein. Oyster shell on the side for the layers.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

What a great question! My 2-yo Black Australorps had a very hard molt this year. One in particular I called Hurricane Hannah, poor thing. We switched them (gradually) to Feather Fixer from All-Flock as soon as they started going into molt, but they don't seem crazy about it. I have noticed a lot of them also seem reluctant to vie for treats (scratch and dried mealworms) in the afternoon, although they seem to want to. I think they're afraid of the jostling because it hurts. They just don't want anyone near them, though I do try to scatter the treats out enough to give them plenty of room. Hopefully they'll feather out soon and can get back to their chickeny lives.

 

[Sally PB]

My three 1-1/2 year old hens molted this year, at different times. I didn't notice them going off their feed, and they always came for afternoon snack. Now that they are feathered out, though, I do think they are eating more.

One thing I added was about 1/3 cup (for 7 birds) of calf manna. I mixed that with their food and made the usual mash for their afternoon snack with it. I did that 3-4 times a week. I'm doing it once or twice a week now.

 

[Iluveggers]

It might be breed dependent or hybrid dependent. I never feed below a 20% protein feed and have noticed that even the cinnamon queens, who are a hybrid only slow down to a couple of eggs a week in a severe molt instead of quitting and they never seem to lose weight. Which I attribute to a higher protein feed. If my feed store is ever out of 20% I will switch to a meat bird and I have been known to switch to a meat bird, 22% protein, if when molting they start to look skinny.

I have not ever noticed any of my birds not wanting to eat during molt.

What feed do you use? I’m thinking I’m keeping mine on starter/grower w oyster on the side when they start laying, since I can’t find an organic feed above 16…

 

[RoyalChick]

My hen Maggie stopped eating commercial feed during the hard part of her molt. She has done the same thing two years in a row. She seems to only like worms that she digs up and various roots she finds.
This year I did manage to tempt her with some grower crumble which is super high protein.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I have 18 chickens of varying ages (and varyibg breeds) from 8 months to 4 years. The 8 month old pullets wont molt this year. But some of the older birds are currently going through really terrible molts: Barred Rock, Orpingtons, Spitzhauben, Naked Neck. My Brahma, Sebright, Silkies, Leghorn, and Cochin all had pretty quick and painless molts. In my experience, some breeds or individual birds just have easier molts.

I find they still eat their feed - just a lot less of it. I have seen tough molts before, but what worries me is that the overall effect on their general health can open the door for illness. It's happened to a few birds over the years. I have taken to supplementing those individuals I know from past experience have the potential to decline during molt. I feed eggs, tuna, or other forms of protein as soon as I see feathers fall. I dose individual birds with vitamins in an effort to stave off illness. Idk if it's made a difference, but I figure it can't hurt.

An observation I had is that my Orpingtons have the absolute worst molts of all my flock.

My Cochin is particularly weird. She has "quieter" molts 2x a year. Maybe it just takes too long to replace alllll those bazillion feathers...

 

[Aunt Angus]

Less of it is still going off their feed especially if it's been less enough for you to notice.
I have yet to come accross a moulting hen that won't eat anything. Most eat less comercial feed and forage more. But, these are ranged chickens. Having access to alternative foodstuffs must make a large difference.

I agree. I often put out other "treats," like Greek yogurt or pumpkin during this time. Here, the plant life is greatly diminished come because of summer conditions. I do what I can to offer variety.

I just put out a Halloween pumpkin, and my lavender Orpington is out there chowing down. She is having the worst molt of all.

I take this into consideration when evaluating their poop, too. They do get diarrhea when having a tough molt. Foods that are higher in water content can also have that effect.

But I'd be lying if I didn't panic a little each fall.

 

[micstrachan]

I voted yes AND yes on their first hard molt, though I only noticed it being hard on the first molt after someone else mentioned it.

Remember Ester? This was her first molt and I had to tube her for two weeks. It was very challenging to get her to eat ANYTHING, let alone commercial feed. She was too cold and weak to free range. I took her in after this… she was quite wobbly.

Both Flash AND Minnie temporarily went off commercial feed this year. Even though they are a year apart, it’s a first molt for each of them. Interestingly, they both also clogged their crops up a bit. Here is Minnie when her molt first started:

Here is a screenshot of a video of Flash.

A few years back, Little Mill also starved herself during molt. After she had gone to roost weak and wobbly, I went to check on her and rescued her off the coop floor. She had fallen from the roost and was literally sprawled out on the floor. I can’t find a photo and don’t recall if it was her first molt. It was 2019, so probably not. When I go back and look at a PM thread I had with a friend on Millie, I remember Millie ALSO had a slow crop during molt. In her case, she might have gotten backed up due to eating feathers. But what’s up with all the crop issues in molting hens who starve themselves? Edited to add: I think it might be a combination of their digestion slowing while they are not feeling well and their eating of unusual things like feathers and hay.

 

[BDutch]

Last weekend I went to our town mill again (after a long time) . The mills core business is to grind organic wheat and other grains for (home) backers. They don’t produce chicken feed but are reseller of just one organic brand. Until 6 months ago they sold a brand my chickens and I didn’t like.
But now this mill sell’s another organic brand. I bought a bag with pellets for my bantams. At home I was surprised because the label says it contains just 0,4 grams calcium in one kilo. At first I was happy with It because my hens don’t lay any eggs right now. .
Most feed has about 4 grams calcium in a kilo. So this is extremely low. Now I doubt if the 0,4 is correct. I’m afraid the made a mistake in the label and in fact it is 4 grams in a kilo.

I wanted to send a message to the factory, to ask if the made a mistake, but they don’t have a website. The company is registered but I cant find an email address or telephone number

Question. If chickens get feed with too little calcium, will they eat more oyster shells and egg shells as soon as they start to lay again? Bc I think its the only way to find out if the label is true.