Hen does not have feathers on her belly!

[EEBLACKCOPPERMARAN]

My 1 and a half year old hen does not have any feathers on her belly. Does anyone know what it is??

 

[vfem]

Was she recently broody?

 

[EEBLACKCOPPERMARAN]

She went broody about almost a year ago and hatched a chick.

 

[aoxa]

It's the time of year for molting...

 

[vfem]

It is molting season for sure, I just know that my hens specifically pick their chest/belly feathers out to get more heat contact when they're about to go broody. My silkies don't care if its November, they'll go broody ANY time!

 

[azygous]

That's usually the first sign that a hen is getting ready to go broody. Have you noticed her clucking sounding different lately? Kind of a low hiccup-like cluck? As she gets closer and closer to going on the nest, her broody cluck gets more and more frequent and more intense. One day you will find her on the nest laying her final egg, and when that happens, she will refuse to leave the nest, and you officially have a broody.

If you are not inclined to have her brood a bunch of eggs, it will do no good to try and break her until she lays that final egg. I know because I've made the mistake of trying.