How bad does molting affect a chicken?

[SconnieChickens]

I have 11 chickens that are about 10 months old. Two of them are a hybrid/mutt called starlight green eggers. They were bought at the same time from the same place. We live in WI and it has gotten cold but not frigid. One of them is fine...no real drop in egg production, looks fine, very active etc. The other one not so much. A few weeks ago she began to lose nearly all her feathers. I’d go in the coop and it was just white feathers everywhere. The feathers are growing back nicely but she still looks kinda gangly and not as “full” as the other one, for lack of a better word. Her comb has shrunken and is pale. She is drinking and eating, and now that her feathers are growing back she will venture out into their pen, whereas before she would stay in their covered run. I am concerned about her droppings. They are very runny, wet and greenish. I have seen what looks like just a few drops of liquid coming from her vent area. The vent area itself looks fine, no discharge or anything like that. I have looked her over and see no signs of mites or lice. Some of the other birds have had this same type of molting...they lose a lot of feathers especially around their necks and then they grow back and they are fine. This one however seems to be taking a long time to recover. Should I be concerned about something else? Or can mounting just really zap a chicken for awhile? I have been increasing protein for the whole flock. I am concerned about maybe something digestive being wrong because of the weird poop. Any ideas? I thought of adding ACV and/or electrolytes to the water. TIA for any insight. I’m still learning!

 

[MJJenson]

Sounds a bit like my flock currently. We are in northeast KS, cool but not frigid. Interested to hear what feedback you receive. I was thinking maybe a bullying issue since it’s my RIRs that look so bad and my Barred Rocks look fine.

 

[aart]

Molting can be tough on them.

A dose of electrolyte/vitamins might be good.
Skip the ACV.

What all and how exactly are you feeding?

When I have a bird that is acting off I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor their intake of food and water, crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed), and their poops. Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling. Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.

Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

 

[SconnieChickens]

Molting can be tough on them.

A dose of electrolyte/vitamins might be good.
Skip the ACV.

What all and how exactly are you feeding?

When I have a bird that is acting off I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor their intake of food and water, crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed), and their poops. Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling. Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.

Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

Thank you! With my current set up I would not be able to put her in a crate by herself with the other chickens. I have a raised coop with an attached run (total size is about 6x10 including what’s underneath the coop) and a very large outdoor pen. Even in the cold weather they spend a good amount of time outside in the pen but they do come in to the run and perch on the branches I put in there. As for food, they are free fed layer crumbles in the run, along with oyster shell separately, and there is also a small feeder inside the coop. They get a few handfuls of scratch usually around noon and I have been giving them some black soldier fly larvae for added protein to help those that are molting. She will come right out and eat those but I don’t know for sure what she’s taking in of the crumbles. Maybe I need to hold off on treats for the whole flock for awhile. I checked her again yesterday and there is no sign of any external parasite. Her vent feathers were clean and dry, but as odd as this sounds I almost had trouble finding her vent...it was like very small and closed off. Not at all red or inflamed. Vent feathers clean and dry despite watery poop. She pooped yesterday while they were outside on some snow and it was just yellow like liquid. Other than that honestly she is acting normal. Doesn’t appear lethargic, will eat without being forced, will drink freely... I just don’t know what’s up with that weird poop and her comb!

 

[aart]

Pale comb is because of not being in lay.

Not sure about the yellow poop.
Pics might help.

Might cut out the BSL and see if it makes a difference.
Maybe switch to 18-20% protein all flock.