Frustrations with Molting

[Picky Chicky]

This will be my first full year with chickens and it appears to have finally happened - most of my chickens are molting. Now, I noticed that egg production decreased significantly when the heat of the summer came upon us, and then the girls decided to molt early August... maybe even late July, but now we're almost at the end of September and the girls haven't started laying again.

Out of 9 hens, I've got one standard laying, and one bantam laying - the rest are driving me nuts! What gives? How long does molting last? Is it time for me to get some crock pot recipes and give DH the go ahead for the dirty work?

For the record, we've yet to cull any of our chickens, so the decision to eat our lazy hens won't be easy.

 

[chickon baby]

I can relate. We are in the same boat.I wonder if it takes longer because it is the 1st year they are molting...I sent my son to the store to buy eggs and he gave me a look and said,we have chickens why do you want me to buy eggs..He laughed,knowing they are not laying..1finally layed and it is about every other day..Patience...its tough...I threatened mine...I asked them if they want to meet colonel sanders!!!! Dont get the crock pot ready yet!!! you will just have to start from "scratch" again..lol

 

[Picky Chicky]

Quote:
LOL I almost died of shock having to buy eggs from the store! Our first carton we went with the cheapy white eggs. They tasted so bland, so on this last visit I picked up the more expensive "cage free, blah blah" brown eggs and they were probably more bland than the first ones.

I miss my real eggs!

 

[Chickapooh23]

OK, this is my first molt also so maybe I should be giving advised but here goes anyway. What are you feeding them? I have read that this is important for hens to get through a molt. I think they need more protein to regrow feathers. Have their feathers returned? Because they spend all they energy on regrowing feathers until their molt is over.

 

[Picky Chicky]

Quote:
Hmm... their usual grain and giving them tons of their favorite table scraps, but honestly this isn't much different than what I normally do. Most of them kept a majority of their feathers - only lost a bunch on their underside and their necks. Only one of my girls looks haggard but I think that's because my roo has been focusing his "attention" on her more lately. Poor dear.

On a lighter note, my 8 year DD caught our roo mounting poor Angel for the umpteenth dozenth time. DD got upset because Angel was squawking/screaming. DD panicked demanding to know why he was hurting her. She understands the birds and the bees, so I explained - on a high level, what he was doing. So she asked why she was screaming - did that mean he was hurting her? I told her it was because the rooster didn't ask Angel for her permission first.