First Year Molt?

[thecatumbrella]

My flock was born March 24th of this year, and one of my pullets has started to molt. I was under the impression that juvenile molts stopped around 4-5 months and that they wouldn't have a "true" molt until next year. She's literally blowing coat at 23 weeks-old. Picture of health otherwise and very active.

Couple factors that may be related.
- She was broody broken about 10 days ago.
- She's been sleeping in my basement for about 2 weeks (long story) and loses about 1 hour of daylight in the morning and 1 in the evening compared to her flockmates.

Any idea why this is happening?

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Oohhh, a mystery . I'm just here to see what other, more knowledgeable people think. Also "blowing coat" had me cackling .



My guess is that it's likely a combo of all the things you listed a.k.a. stress...

 

[RubelliteRose]

First year molt is uncommon, but can happen. I had 2 of my first 8 girls molt before their first winter. I was also very confused when I opened the coop to find it covered in feathers one morning! They are both now 5 years old and still healthy, so it is just a thing that a few chickens do

 

[rosemarythyme]

Many hens molt after a broody cycle so that's probably part of it, as well as the shorter daylight cycle.

 

[thecatumbrella]

Thanks everyone! Never knew this could happen.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some pullets skip the molt their first fall/winter and continue laying eggs until the molt the following fall. Some cockerels skip the molt also but they don't lay eggs anyway. Some do not skip the molt. It is an individual chicken thing.

The main reason for the molt is the days getting shorter after the summer solstice. By September/October that difference is pretty noticeable. It is nature's way of stopping them from hatching eggs and trying to raise chicks during the bad weather months, plus they replace worn out feathers with fresh new ones. After we domesticated them this changed for some first year chicks but many still follow this pattern, including many first year layers.

Chickens can molt for other reasons. One reason is stress. A change in the pecking order, a change in housing, a predator attack, going without water for an extended length of time, different things can induce stress. I had a hen go broody and hatch chicks in July. She molted while raising her chicks and was back to laying by the time the rest of the flock molted.

You isolated her from the flock for a couple of weeks while breaking her being broody. You shortened her daylight hours by two hours. It's not that surprising that she molted.