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

[Chickenwolf]

My flock went the whole entire summer
With laying no more than 8 eggs a day,
now it's even less.
My roos are molting too.
Do you have some tips that might help?

 

[aart]

My flock went the whole entire summer
With laying no more than 8 eggs a day,
now it's even less.
My roos are molting too.
Do you have some tips that might help?

Need a lot more info to even contemplate a reason or solution.

 

[Happy Chooks]

My flock went the whole entire summer
With laying no more than 8 eggs a day,
now it's even less.
My roos are molting too.
Do you have some tips that might help?

What are you feeding them?

 

[Chickenwolf]

I feed them polutry layer feed and corn. They also free range 9 acres. I cheked for parasites and there isn't any. Water is changed everyday. 6 of the pullets haven't started laying yet, but thats not of concern. Some of the hens are older but my 7 year old hens still lay like they are new. All my roos are also molting tail and hackle feathers. There is a "pillow explosion" of feathers in the chicken house. I think thr stress of the heat during summer had something to do with why they mplted so late. No feather picking or rooster damage.

Is that enough? ;-)

 

[chicknmania]

I have a black JG hen who has been looking ratty all summer. Her back and breast feathers were worn from the rooster, but she eventually started to grow in new ones, and she didn't really look sore, so I didn't worry about it. Now though she's going through a horrible hard molt. She looks awful! We've had chickens for over ten years (they free range) and I've never seen one go through a molt like that! Also it is getting cold..I'm starting to worry about her! They have 18% protein crumbles, and mixed grain right now. They don't like Feather Fixer very much, and I don't like to put the whole flock on it if I don't need to. Why is it that some go through the hard molt and others don't? Is it something that could be specific to the breed?

 

[aart]

I have a black JG hen who has been looking ratty all summer. Her back and breast feathers were worn from the rooster, but she eventually started to grow in new ones, and she didn't really look sore, so I didn't worry about it. Now though she's going through a horrible hard molt. She looks awful! We've had chickens for over ten years (they free range) and I've never seen one go through a molt like that! Also it is getting cold..I'm starting to worry about her! They have 18% protein crumbles, and mixed grain right now. They don't like Feather Fixer very much, and I don't like to put the whole flock on it if I don't need to. Why is it that some go through the hard molt and others don't? Is it something that could be specific to the breed?

Depending on how much grain( and what protein percentage it carries) and how much crumble, you may have diluted the protein below 16%.
I'd cut out the grain and/or give some other forms of high protein......meal worms, meat scraps, tuna, mackerel, etc.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I have a black JG hen who has been looking ratty all summer. Her back and breast feathers were worn from the rooster, but she eventually started to grow in new ones, and she didn't really look sore, so I didn't worry about it. Now though she's going through a horrible hard molt. She looks awful! We've had chickens for over ten years (they free range) and I've never seen one go through a molt like that! Also it is getting cold..I'm starting to worry about her! They have 18% protein crumbles, and mixed grain right now. They don't like Feather Fixer very much, and I don't like to put the whole flock on it if I don't need to. Why is it that some go through the hard molt and others don't? Is it something that could be specific to the breed?

She'll snuggle up to the others for warmth. Don't worry about the cold.

As @aart stated, you may be diluting their protein levels with the grain. My birds love Feather Fixer, and I mix it in with Flockraiser. This is the first year I have used Feather Fixer, and thought I'd give it a try. I've also thrown it out like scratch.

Molting is not breed specific. As to why some birds molt harder than others, I do not know. I would suspect that a hard molt is needed every few years at least to replace old feathers that may not have been replaced in prior molts.

 

[chicknmania]

OK, I'll try giving them some extra protein in the ways suggested above. Flossie is actually growing her new feathers in quickly, she already looks much better, it's pretty amazing. I don't know why ours don't like FF, but a lot of them just don't seem to.

 

[Robeenop]

Some of my 30 hens went through a hard molt. I made a custom mix of seeds, mealworms,sunflower, and safflower kernals. Also scrambled egg, tuna and shrimp shells, as a treat daily.Some of mine had been roughed up by my roos, and I had capes (lifesaver) on several of them.They were bare backed. Others just had a feather explosion. I would peak under the capes weekly. Then there would be pin feather explosion! I only have 2 that are not fully feathered yet. My bearded buff polish roo, is now growing a new tail, and hackles. His crown is full of pin feathers too. I have 8 different breeds. BTW mine would not eat the FF either.

 

[Diannastarr]

The BEST thing you can do to help your chickens through molt is to feed a high quality feed all the time..!! over the years we never had chickens that ever molted in such a way that it became noticeable & we lived in new England for the most part , it was very cold, i remember splitting wood at 14 below & feeling hot ..lol.. yes that is possible...lol...

so we had very cold winters to say the least, but golly gee we never had any visible sign of molt in any of our flocks & we lived in several different states & keeping chickens in each, but if i ever saw any sign of a bad molt visible in my hens that would have freaked me out totally ...lol....

in new England i remember in my youth , I had seen a few back yard flocks that were in a hard molt in winter , its such a horrible sight & i believed the owners were mistreating their flock in some way ..?? what else would some one think seeing that...??

BUT NO those hens were in a hard molt because their feed was not supporting laying hens properly as the weather turns cold & they end up molting so much longer & harder all the wile struggling to stay warm & trying to produce all new feathers in the best way they could , wile suffering what must be a lack of proper nutrition , i would change feed as quickly as possible & add heat to the coop & feed extras for at least a month or more from my kitchen to bring them up as fast as possible, if I ever saw my hens going through a bad molt , but also this , i read that commercial egg CO's would starve the hens to do a forced molt , but that's all got to do with greed ,but since i read this practice is now against the law..? thank goodness for that..!!! but again realizing starving hens would go into a hard molt, so its only logical if this is happening to any ones birds the feed is not supporting your flock properly, I would start with the best feed possible & do that early on , so that never happened again.

these are some of my hens below in molt & still laying during a very cold winter 2015, i just took these pic's this morning on Dec 30, 2015 but then again i cook for my flock & feed them extra proteins eggs & more if need be, i never fully depend on any commercial feeds entirely & i start supplement starting with what ever i feel they need most, so in late Aug as the season begins to change is a good rule of thumb to start early, so below are some of my girls eating my warm hen helper food of multi grains with noodles & eggs , they sure do love it & you know what they say about happy hens

ha... its true..lol..

we had a very sudden early winter this year it even snowed in Nov..?

so i will feed my hen helper every once in a wile to help keep my girls balanced out & we do add in a lot of supplements to their diet because of crazy changes in weather & to help them keep up & in the best condition possible , wile still laying & going through the shortest molt time possible , & yes we do sell eggs , but its always been about our hens best quality of life. for us

so here below in the last 2 pic are my 2 year old hens in molt winter 2015 , we are still delivering eggs to all our stores so rule of thumb is to buy only the best feed & supplement that is key to keeping your flock up & in great condition during the molt or any stressful time in their lives & doing that well..!