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

[audrey02026]

Well mine do free range when I'm home so maybe that's why they are still laying. They look really healthy good dark red combs and bright eyes, buy they are loosing feathers and still laying eggs so i'm guessing they are starting to molt.

 

[judyG]

Thanks for the info re: molt. My Amerucana, Hazel, is having a terrible molt. I was glad to learn about the comb shriveling. She hasn't laid in weeks. I was thinking she might have parasites. The other two hens are fine, however. Is worming them a common practice in California. I live in San Francisco.

 

[Mr Eggcentric]

Cool, I had a hen that looked like her and I thought she was attacked.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I'm east of Sacramento and I worm mine once a year in the fall. I never wormed mine until I noticed that they were suddenly dropping weight. I watched them and did manage to find a worm in one of their poops. So I wormed them and they got back to a healthy weight again. Now I worm them every year.

 

[hansolo]

do you have picture of a mild molt?
Were they laying?

Thanks.
Quote:
Yours won't molt until next year.

I've had some go through a very mild molt at 9 months, but most of the time they don't molt until they are over a year old.

 

[centrarchid]

hansolo,

Hen below is in mild moult while laying. She has only a couple tail feathers that can be seen and new ones are covered by body feathers. Her moulting pattern is wildtype where flight feathers on wings are replaced singly rather than groups of three like with most production breeds. In hand, blood feathers can be found amoung hackles. While walking about it is sometimes difficult to see if she is in moult but when she flies here tail looks like an almost toothless smile.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

Quote:

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

Another issue people need to be made aware of is a "double molt". I became aware of this occurrence because one of my hens went through a full out molt back in October. Looked like a feather pillow exploded in her coop/run. Took her just over two weeks to get through it. She started laying again around November. But then in the second week or so of December, feather pillow explosion again and she is STILL looking raggedy and not laying. She has molted twice now in a few months' time.

 

[aoxa]

I see a few of my young ones having pin feathers (around 22 weeks old), is that okay?

I thought they were supposed to have a molt their first year (3 times I've read). It's nothing like the molt your girl had. My oldest hen is going on two this spring and wasn't even half that bad!

 

[corgiscatsandchickens]

When I was a kid and we had chickens, I never noticed any of them going through a hard molt, ours never stopped laying, and they all free-ranged. I've heard about those hard molts though! I wonder if there's a molting difference for free-rangers and chickens that are penned. (Mine have a big, safe lot now.)

Anybody know?