Help! Chicken is Molting in November

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molting in november is a big deal. chickens use light to tell when they should start molting. the best way to stop them is not givig them soo much light for a long time. make sure they stay somewhere kinda dark with little light and they will stop soon after. the light makes them think that the days are getting longer which means they need new sets of feathers!
 
kaestark said:
molting in november is a big deal. chickens use light to tell when they should start molting. the best way to stop them is not givig them soo much light for a long time. make sure they stay somewhere kinda dark with little light and they will stop soon after. the light makes them think that the days are getting longer which means they need new sets of feathers!
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My chickens don't have any artificial light in their coop. They choose to stay outside all day and only go in the coop to lay eggs and sleep. The other two molted in fall so who knows what's up with Gladys. She was definitely cold during our winter storm last week. Thank goodness the feathers on her head are growing back quickly. Any idea how long it will take for her neck feathers to grow back? This is our first year.
 
Pip4Chirp said:
Quote: It takes feathers about 6 to 8 weeks to fully grow in from the time they fall out to grown out stage. As long as the hen is not completely bald, they can deal with some bare spots. If you notice this bird looking cold, then you might give them a blast of heat first thing in the morning to get them going.
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Pip4Chirp said:
Wow - that's a long time. She's not gonna be happy in January.
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I have a hen that, like clock work, molts on January 1st every year! It gets down to -5 every night with highs staying below freezing for weeks on end in January, but she molts anyway! Ha! I do turn on the heat lamp first thing in the morning when she is at her worst.

Good luck and stay warm!
 
My chickens are still molting in November too. They also aren't laying eggs even though they have fourteen hours of light. I'm really worried because we already have a few inches of snow. Do you have any tips on how I can help them through it? Wish us luck!
 
The hen of mine that's molting has also stopped laying. But the good news is that she's made it through freezing cold temps and snow just fine. She definitely gets colder than the other two (who are still laying) but we give her a little extra scratch and she doesn't seem to have lost any weight. I'm hoping she'll lay again once her feathers have grown back.

Lots of people have suggested giving the chickens some corn or scratch an hour before they go in to sleep - it's supposed to help keep them warm. My chickens love the extra treat - yours' might like it, too. Good luck!

(We've had below avg temps the whole month of Nov! I'm hoping Dec is ABOVE avg with lots of sunny days.)
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