Early Molting?

[aart]

I’m thinking, if others agree that this is a molt, that she may be deficient in something.

Doubtful she's deficient.......just a juvenile molt at 16 weeks.
They have 2-3 molts between hatch and about 6 months.

 

[WindingRoad]

I hope you don’t mind me jumping on your thread! I did a search for the subject because I have concerns for my 16 week old light Brahma. I think she is molting. She is my only Brahma and is with 11 other various breeds and various ages. They have access to a Full Flock feed, oyster shell as well as some layer pellets. I’m thinking, if others agree that this is a molt, that she may be deficient in something. Protein? Vitamins? Or this is a unique problem that Brahmas have due their size? Isn’t she a bit young for this sort of molt? The bare patches on her neck are about the same on both sides. View attachment 2463943

Molting is a natural process. It happens just as dogs shed their winter coat in the spring. Molting usually happens in the fall. Where are you located. There is no deficiency during a natural molt. Sounds like you are feeding properly. Just let nature take its course. Good luck

 

[Ridgerunner]

The bare patches on her neck are about the same on both sides.

She is the right age for a juvenile molt so that is a possibility, but that does not look like a molt to me. Some chickens are fast molters, some slow molters. That's related to how fast the feathers fall out, not how fast they grow back. You may not be able to tell if a slow molter is actually molting by looking at her, they fall out so slowly. But a really fast molter can leave bare spots. There is a molting contest thread on this forum that really shows that. Whether fast or slow, you should be seeing feathers flying around if it is a molt. Are you seeing feathers floating around. The chickens will often eat some of them but they usually won't eat all of them.

When chickens molt they follow a certain pattern. The molt starts at the head, then the neck, and sort of follows in sequence on down. If that were a fast or slow molt I'd expect the head and neck to look a lot rougher. Especially a fast molt

I once had a hen that pecked the feathers off of a rooster's neck that looked a lot like that. It was just one spot, not equal spots on both sides. Often feather pecking is related to being crowded but mine were not. They were perched side by side during daylight and he just sat there while she groomed the neck feathers into a bare spot. I isolated him for a day and that behavior stopped.

I'm not sure what is going on but especially if you are not seeing fathers flying around I don't think that is due to a juvenile molt.

 

[mckaylaburgess]

Went in to the coop today and it was like she dropped these during the day. She had lost a couple tail feathers I had noticed, but can molting around the head and neck happen in a matter of hours?

 

[WindingRoad]

Went in to the coop today and it was like she dropped these during the day. She had lost a couple tail feathers I had noticed, but can molting around the head and neck happen in a matter of hours?

Is she a SLW.. Looks just like my birds did. Sooner she loses feathers sooner she gets new ones back.

 

[mckaylaburgess]

Is she a SLW.. Looks just like my birds did. Sooner she loses feathers sooner she gets new ones back.

She is!

 

[aart]

but can molting around the head and neck happen in a matter of hours?

Yes....if they are the right hours you could see it like that.