My favorite hen, an English Orpington, will be 6 years old next month. She's too fluffy for her own good and needs periodic butt trims and baths, or else her pants collect poop. She's usually the first to molt in the fall, and it's not even in the fall - she starts in July and is fully done by the time the others start. At some point last fall, I fell behind on her butt upkeep and it got pretty crusty, so I gave her a harder cut than usual, leaving only about 2 inches on her butt. Those were the new feathers post molt. She ended up gradually shedding all of them after the trim (but no molting on other parts of her body at that time), and was left with a naked butt for the winter, for the first time ever. I thought she'd grow new feathers eventually, but it's been several months and she still hasn't. I kept an eye on her and she doesn't seem to have suffered frostbite or any other damage due to the naked butt (even though we had a pretty solid winter).
Do feathers only grow back after a molt? Shouldn't they grow back if they were lost for other reasons and at other times of the year? She's otherwise in good health and spirits, with lusciously fluffy shiny plumage on the rest of her body. I have a peaceful flock and haven't noticed any feather picking or butt picking at all.
Do feathers only grow back after a molt? Shouldn't they grow back if they were lost for other reasons and at other times of the year? She's otherwise in good health and spirits, with lusciously fluffy shiny plumage on the rest of her body. I have a peaceful flock and haven't noticed any feather picking or butt picking at all.
