Help - she's losing all her feathers!

[bkatty17]

Our wheaten game hen Bernise is experiencing a SEVERE molt. She had molted about 4 - 6 weeks ago I though but now she's losing nearly everything. I've posted before and afters. Any help would be appreciated because we are new to chickens. Or young ones seem to be fine but they are definately acting like alphas especially our Bar Rock, Veronica who used to be very afraid of her. Help please.

 

[Kittymomma]

How old is she, how many chickens do you have and how much room (coop and run) do they have? Also what are you feeding them?

 

[bkatty17]

Not certain of her age - we found her - maybe 2 yrs. She's eating Layena supplimented with corn on the cob, watermelon, and whatever bugs she finds. The coop is 8 x 8.

 

[Chick Charm]

I have seen some molts like this before. So I think this is something seen before. I wouldn't worry too much just yet.

 

[Kittymomma]

A hard molt at her age is not surprising. I'd up her protien (takes a lot of protien to grow feathers) by either feeding her gamebird feed/chick starter or supplementing with high protien treats. Scrambled eggs are good so are mealworms, crickets and dry or wet cat food. If you go with cat food try to use a low sodium variety since it tends to be too high in salt for chickens.

ETA: It would also be a good idea to take a flashlight out to the coop some night soon and check her over really well for mites/lice. It really does sound more like a hard molt, but it's good to be sure.

 

[bkatty17]

Thanks for the help and advice. We'll follow it and see what happens.