I've kept BYC for twenty odd years but never in that time have I had a hen less than one year old begin a molt - and never in December! Then again, until 2024 my hens were never housed outside 24/7 in an unheated yard and house. My girls, up till this year, all came and went freely through a dog door into a heated/air-conditioned garage and each had her very own pet taxi lined with bedding that was cleaned daily, and locked at night. Aside from the communal outside tanks/feeders, each hen had her own water and food dispensers on the door of her apt. I could keep a very close check/record on the individual bird this way, They loved it and so did I. Now I'm living in another place with my adult daughter, and though she is fine with my chicken keeping, she won't give over her garage to it. She did build a quite fine above ground communal chicken house for my nine girls inside a far more than adequate totally enclosed 1600 square foot pen. They have ventilation fans for summer, heated water founts for winter, and the whole house is surrounded underneath by bales of wheat straw that we tear apart as needed for ground insulation and to give the girls some seed scratching fun. The house inside is filled with high quality kiln-dried bedding I still clean up daily. The girls eat a quality high protein and supplemented commercial pearl food and get added treats in the way of warm fermented mash, whole grains, bugs, and grubs since they can not free-range out here in the countryside filled with predators unless I'm with them. They live a good life for a chicken. I try to do everything I can to keep them healthy, but I've never before encountered why one of my Barred Plymouth Rocks decided to begin molting at the age of ten months, in the middle of December. It's the first week of January now, and 16°F. (-3°c) My poor Splot (named by a grandchild) is half naked. I had hoped the advent of cold weather would trigger some hormonal response and stop her feather loss. Nope. I've given her (well all of them) doses of Feather Fixer and upped the protein percentage of their food to 28%. They are getting added B vitamins and fatty acids, too. What feathers she has are gorgeous, as are all of them, but she will not stop her molt. I'm worried that she will die of hypothermia.
Am I over-reacting or should I try to convince my daughter to let her live indoors till this is over? It's what I'd do if I were still on my own. My daughter is concerned because I'm actually highly allergic to my chickens, that bringing her in will be detrimental to my own health. I have medication for me - but what else can I do for Splot? Can she wear a sweater, or would that diminish what insulation she has left?
Anyone out there been through this?
Call me a concerned granny.
Am I over-reacting or should I try to convince my daughter to let her live indoors till this is over? It's what I'd do if I were still on my own. My daughter is concerned because I'm actually highly allergic to my chickens, that bringing her in will be detrimental to my own health. I have medication for me - but what else can I do for Splot? Can she wear a sweater, or would that diminish what insulation she has left?
Anyone out there been through this?
Call me a concerned granny.
