Do not attempt a forced molt at home by withholding water or food, period. When industry uses a forced molt it's under the care of a veterinarian.
When a commercial laying flock has laid continuously without a molt for a certain period of time the egg production drops and egg quality problems increase to a point that it is no longer economical to feed them. They are forced to make a decision to stay in business, either force a molt or get rid of all the hens and bring in fresh pullets. They weigh different factors but forcing a molt around 65 weeks of age is pretty common.
Different states and different countries around the world often have rules or laws about how a commercial chicken flock can be induced to molt. There have been different methods used in the past to force a molt, some are probably still in use in some places. These can be withholding water, withholding food, and/or manipulating lights. Industry has done a lot of research on this as you'd expect. Public opinion and laws have had an effect on how most go about it, in some countries more than others.
The current approved method in the States involved reducing nutrient intake to cause a weight loss, they’ve found by research just how much weight loss is required for optimum results. They do not totally withhold food but the amount of nutrients are reduced under the advice of a veterinarian that is monitoring the flock. Different flocks require different nutrient levels as they progress. They do not withhold water. They do manipulate the lights to add that effect to start the molt.
They also have certain diets and light regimens to help them recover from the molt and get back in production. They have experts monitoring the flocks during this process, weighing them and keeping track or everything. We are not experts, even if I weighed my flock daily I would not know what to do with that information.
The only way I’d even suggest any of us try to induce a molt would be manipulating the lights if they have been extending daylight so they keep laying, but the logistics of doing that could be challenging. I do not use lights to extend the day.
The reason given to induce a molt is so they can feather back out before the weather turns cold. I see this as treating a problem that doesn’t exist. Mine molt whenever they want to. Sometimes they are pretty bare when it is pretty cold, it doesn’t seem to bother them. I’d consider the risk from trying to force a molt much greater than any risk from cold weather when they are molting.
So do what makes sense to you and what makes you feel comfortable.
RIP chickens!
