How long does molting last?

[mamahen315]

Hi! I have three Rhode Island Red hens and it seems as though only one is really losing its feathers but the other two maybe here and there are losing their feathers too.

I was wondering how long this typically lasts? I got them in March 2016 and so this is the first time I have experienced this molting process as it’s the first time for my chickens too. The poor things must be cold.. I think they got a late start?!
Will they molt again this time next year too?

 

[staceyj]

Well I can tell you it SEEMS like forever.
It can take a few months.
It does seem like a counterintuitive time of year to molt doesn't it?
But it usually coincides with the time of year when the days grow short, and chickens stop their egg production.
For most chickens it's too hard to make eggs and feathers at the same time!
Make sure they are getting a feed with a high level of protein (20% +/-), oyster shell on the side, with minimal treats and plenty of fresh water during this time.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How long the molt lasts depends on how fast the feathers fall out. How fast they fall out depends on genetics. Some chickens loose feathers in clumps, they can look pretty naked, while with others the process is so gradual you have trouble telling if they are molting just by looking at them. About the only way you can tell with the really slow ones is that you see feathers flying around. A fast molter can pretty much be over it within a month, a slow molter may take four months or longer. A lot of them are in between these extremes. The production breeds like your RIR’s tend to be faster while the decorative breeds tend to be slower, but that can vary a lot with individuals of the same breed.

It sounds like yours are following a familiar pattern. Pullets sometimes skip the molt their first fall/winter but then molt every year in the fall/winter after that. So yes you can expect them to molt again next year. The normal trigger is the days getting shorter. It is a little late for yours to start, but have they been getting extra light that somehow changed so they think the days are just now getting shorter? I do not adjust my lights but have had some start molting in September and others wait until November. They are such individuals that them waiting until December doesn’t surprise me but if all three have just started it makes me wonder if something has recently changed with the lighting.

I took this a few years back. It's one of the faster molters I've ever had.

 

[mamahen315]

How long the molt lasts depends on how fast the feathers fall out. How fast they fall out depends on genetics. Some chickens loose feathers in clumps, they can look pretty naked, while with others the process is so gradual you have trouble telling if they are molting just by looking at them. About the only way you can tell with the really slow ones is that you see feathers flying around. A fast molter can pretty much be over it within a month, a slow molter may take four months or longer. A lot of them are in between these extremes. The production breeds like your RIR’s tend to be faster while the decorative breeds tend to be slower, but that can vary a lot with individuals of the same breed.

It sounds like yours are following a familiar pattern. Pullets sometimes skip the molt their first fall/winter but then molt every year in the fall/winter after that. So yes you can expect them to molt again next year. The normal trigger is the days getting shorter. It is a little late for yours to start, but have they been getting extra light that somehow changed so they think the days are just now getting shorter? I do not adjust my lights but have had some start molting in September and others wait until November. They are such individuals that them waiting until December doesn’t surprise me but if all three have just started it makes me wonder if something has recently changed with the lighting.

I took this a few years back. It's one of the faster molters I've ever had.

View attachment 1213977

Thank you for this helpful information. I don’t have lights for my chickens and haven’t since I put them outside in their coop when as soon as they got bigger which has been over a year now. So I guess they are just late bloomers for the first time molting! Haha. And it seems as though only one is molting bad but maybe the others are too and I just can’t see them molting.