For the new folks that haven't experienced a molt yet.

[Gifa]

Pardon me if this was already covered in discussion... it's really hard to skim more than 3 or 4 pages of posts... especially when many are more than a year old...


I've read that a laying cycle is 11 months long...and that molting usually coincides with the end of a laying cycle...

All of my girls are a year and three months old... but they all started laying at different times...

Zoe - Brown Leghorn - Oct 18
Kaylee - EE - Nov 7
Bridget - EE - Nov 8
Inara - SLW - Nov 10
Yolanda - EE - Nov 23
Saffron - EE - Feb 4
Nandi - Feb 18

I know Bridget is in a soft molt... she's been featherless around her neck since March and being at the bottom of the pecking order has had a hard time growing in... and I've read that this is normal too...

I went ahead a few weeks ago and started mixing in 24%game bird into their 16% layer pellets, with a handful of oyster shell mixed in as well as offering OS free choice (just to make sure I don't screw them up on calcium) to prepare them for the fall molt. We're up to a 50/50 mix now and Bridget's feathers are coming in faster than the others can pick them off now... so... I feel like that's a small victory of sorts...

That said... I think the rest of my flock is just about ready to hit their molt... I noticed the second big wyandotte feather in the run... and as of today... my Brown Leghorn, who hasn't skipped more than a day on a normal regular interval since she started, hasn't laid now for a third day in a row... That's a tell-tale sign of the beginning of a molt... isn't it?

Working back from to Zoe's start date (offsetting that 8-10 days it takes for an egg to work it's way from ovary to nest box...divide by 2, carry the one...) 11 months for her is this week or next...and she's right on time... so, I should expect everyone else to go "pbbt!" in about 3 weeks... Right?

And if the theory holds, will Saffron and Nandi wait until January to molt?


It's all so fascinating...

 

[Happy Chooks]

That said... I think the rest of my flock is just about ready to hit their molt... I noticed the second big wyandotte feather in the run... and as of today... my Brown Leghorn, who hasn't skipped more than a day on a normal regular interval since she started, hasn't laid now for a third day in a row... That's a tell-tale sign of the beginning of a molt... isn't it?

Yes. They can quit laying right about the time that it starts looking like a pillow exploded in your yard.

Molting is brought on by the shorter daylight hours, not necessarily their age. I've had some 9 month old pullets go through minor molts (but enough of a molt to cause them to quit laying), depending on when they hatched. They need every bit of protein to grow in feathers, so you did a great thing by adding game bird feed into their food. Any meat scraps you can give them will help as well.

My flock averages at about 3 months for molt. Some are back to laying in 2 months, some take 4-5 months. Sometimes a harder molt will get them back to laying quicker, as they replace their feathers faster. Others seem to drag on forever. It just depends on the hen.

 

[Gifa]

I am wondering how many of my girls will stop all together... I expect diminished laying from all my girls, but especially from my EEs... and I've heard that EE's will often molt late and then wait till spring to start laying again.

 

[Happy Chooks]

My buttercup has started her molt. It's early for molting here, but it's been a strange year. Pictures coming soon! (when she looks at her most pathetic)

 

[Gifa]

Walking slowly with head down and occasionally yawning and walking backwards is normalish behavior during a molt, right?

It's been a week since my leghorn laid, and now she's acting weird. And I've only seen a few of her feathers around...

 

[Happy Chooks]

I haven't noticed that. They will get aloof, preferring to be left alone. Do you see any pin feathers?

 

[Gifa]

Here is what they look like today...


Zoe, my brown Leghorn. Hasn't laid in a week, am starting to notice that the area under her wattles is getting a little nekkid... and though you can't see it in this photo, she has a bare butt.... Actually... the area around her vent is bare. I noticed only a few body feathers of hers lying around this morning when I went out to clean the coop... other than that... She's still a good lookin' bird.


My SLWs Nandi on the left, and Inara on the right... I tell them apart by their combs, Inara has a weirdish little pea comb. Still laying... though, prone to a few extra days off here and there. Nandi is outpacing Inara, but then again, she didn't start Laying until the Middle of February.



And now for my EEs. From left to right; Kaylee, Yolanda, Saffron... and Bridget... oooohhhh Bridget. Bridget has looked like this all summer... she still lays about 3 65-70 gram eggs per week though. Everyone else is laying 4-5 times a week. The beards have been gone since March... and I've noticed a bunch of Saffron's tail covert feathers laying around today though.


As you can see... their run, in which I give them all the grass clippings, is nearly spotless... nary a poop to be seen and there aren't an abundance of feathers laying around. (Anyone wondering why I have a dog toy hanging over the waterer... it keeps the chickens off of the handle where they used to perch and poop right into the water.)

 

[Happy Chooks]

Bridget is starting her molt - you can see the pin feathers on her neck. The rest of your EE's look like they are missing their beards due to feather picking. Your leghorn might be starting to molt, but isn't really there yet. (my BR hasn't laid in a week either, but hasn't started losing feathers yet) Bare spots around the vent are usually due to lice or mites - have you checked for them?

When they really start molting, it will look like a pillow exploded in your run.

 

[Gifa]

I opened up their coop today to clean it... and unlike yesterdays 3 or 4 feathers, I found like a dozen, all but one of them Zoe's.


And I think what you are calling pins on Bridget, are mostly broken off feathers... due to picking. I have seen a few pins here and there... but she's been that way since March... poor girl.

 

[LBejaran]

It's been awhile since we've gone through a molt and the last time, it was some broiler hens that we had unintentionally kept alive for two years. So of course, the broiler hens were already creepy looking and suddenly they were bald, haha!

Hopefully this year, it won't be so bad. I'm going to try and keep the coop super clean so I can collect the feathers of my ladies. ^_^