How long does molting take?

[chickenlady26]

Hi i belive my hens are molting and would like to know how long does this last. And is there anything i need to do diffrent with the hens like feeding?

 

[cmom]

I have had some birds that took a month or more to get through their molts. It also depends on how heavy of a molt they go through. Some have gone through a light molt and were over it in a couple of weeks or less.

 

[chickenlady26]

will they lose all their feathers or just some?

 

[Beed]

My Cochin, Lo, was in molt about 2.5 weeks. My Polish, Dolly, started a little after her and she is still losing some feathers-it has been about 4 weeks now. They both stopped laying eggies during molt. Lo is back at it. Dolly seems a little tired. trying to get her to eat more protein. She is a good pellet eater though thank goodness. I saved the feathers. Lord knows what I will do w/ them-ha! I am not sure about losing all of their feathers. Maybe someone else will know.

 

[cmom]

I have never had a bird loose all of their feathers but did loose a lot by the feather laying on the ground. and under the roost in the coop. Actually I could see the feather loss on the birds. Also it depends on how heavy of a molt they go through to how much feather loss there is.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

It can take acouple months sometimes for some hens. I've had naked hens and then some that only lose a few feathers. Most will slow down or stop laying. Feed extra protein to them to help with feather growth. Cat food, tuna, scrambled or boiled eggs are just a few things that help with the extra protein here.