Early molting or something else?

[Mama_in_the_Dell]

Several of my 8 month olds seem to be molting. Only 2 out of 8 are currently laying right now though they all had been previously laying. One girl had to be removed because someone picked at her blood feathers. I was surprised to see her molting so much for a young hen. Now a few weeks later I’m noticing others mostly molting on their heads and neck. Pictures posted are of the one going through the worst head molt I’ve seen. None of my older girls ever molted like this.

 

[Wezdin]

Hi! I'm thinking you have a pecking problem, they should not be molting at this time of year. The good news is that the feathers seen to be coming in fine. Do you have an overly aggressive rooster?

 

[Mama_in_the_Dell]

No rooster and only 8 hens of the same age in that run. A couple of my others look like this. This is one of my top hens in this coop. I don’t see any sores just noticed these pin feathers.

 

[aart]

Pullets can have a partial molts their first fall/winter...usually just around the head/neck.

 

[yodelinginca]

Mine too! She's only 9 months and was a very pretty brown leghorn. She was the first to lay, and the first to noticeably stop laying about 2 months ago. Before laying, her comb was full, tall & straight up. When she started laying, it flopped over to her left but was still full & bright red. When she stopped laying, it started shrinking, paled, and curled to her right. She doesn't seem to be avoiding the other hens (we have a flock of 5, no roos), and at feeding time she gives as good as she gets when the others start hogging the treats, so she's not timid...She's lost a tail feather or two as well.

 

[chrissynemetz]

I agree, I believe they're molting.

 

[sourland]

They are molting. In my experience late molts generally happen with first year pullets/hens.

 

[Cindy in PA]

I never noticed this until my last batch 3 years ago. About half quit laying at 8 months & molted. If it happened before, it wasn't enough for me to notice.

 

[azygous]

Molting at this age isn't uncommon. In fact, I have an eight-month old Blue Andelusian molting right now. It's actually her second such molt. At around five months, she and her four "sisters", (sex-links) molted, feathers nearly as numerous under their perches as the older chickens' yearly molts.

 

[aart]

At around five months, she and her four "sisters", (sex-links) molted, feathers nearly as numerous under their perches as the older chickens' yearly molts.

Probably the last juvenile molt.