How early can a chicken begin to molt?

[cstronks]

That bird is probably in a molt. I am just worried about my bird because she is a minorca. She was sold to me as an australorp, but she certainly is not. I think she will be alright, her comb has paled out and she lost a good amount of feathers, but she is eating and active with the other birds. She also stopped laying about a month and a half ago so hopefully she turns it around soon!

 

[emilyschartz]

Oh that's not good. Mine turned out to be different breeds than what they were originally listed as when i bought them. ya hopefully the egg laying turns around. I'm hoping so

 

[cstronks]

To be honest, I am not worried about the laying at all. I miss her large white eggs, but I am more worried about the cold. Luckily, she appears to be doing OK. I can see the new feathers starting to pop up on her head. She shed tail feathers last week, which is normally the last step of the molt, so she should start filling out. I understand that Minorcas are not the best when it comes to cold weather, but various chicken owners from around the country have had this breed in cold weather, and they say that they hold up alright. On bitter cold nights, I plan on bringing her inside in the garage. I have an old dog cage with a makeshift roost inside of it. She should do well in the garage, as it is usually around 50-60 degrees compared to the 20s we can get here in NJ. She will lay again, when, I don't care. I just want to her to get through the molt!

 

[emilyschartz]

Yeah I bet. I'm glad mine are only losing a few feathers. I'm worried about mine with the cold just cause they think they need to play in water all the time

 

[Al Capon]

Glad to find this. I have a Marans that's losing feathers by the handful. Seems healthy and content otherwise. She's a little over 9 months old. I thought they'd wait another year for this, but guess she's gonna do it early.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

… How young can a chicken be to begin their molt. She stopped laying about a month ago, and now she is losing feathers on various parts of her body (tail, chest, wings). She is still 80% covered and has a solid layer to keep her warm, but she seems to be showing all the signs of a molt...

The first Adult molt comes around at about 18 months, that is if your chickens are hatched during the spring. After the first adult molt then expect your hens and roosters to molt every fall.

You can force molt your hens if you are so amained to.

 

[SW31]

I noticed that my three all lose colour in their combs and wattles and their poo gets a bit more runny when they are moulting; they also seem to go off food a bit as well. After when they’ve got their new set of ‘pyjamas’ their appetite comes back.
Ps I call the new feathers pyjamas as the feathers seem to grow lower down their legs!