Is she molting?

[lilwanderer]

I know its about the time of year chickens will molt and I know the details but its never been this serious, with my flock at least.

 

[sourland]

She is in a full blown molt.

 

[lilwanderer]

She is in a full blown molt.

do you know how long it usually takes them to complete it? Shes been like this for about 2 1/2 weeks now

 

[sourland]

She looks to be nearing the end of the molt. Pin/blood feathers are maturing and about to shed their sheaths.

 

[lilwanderer]

She looks to be nearing the end of the molt. Pin/blood feathers are maturing and about to shed their sheaths.

Oh alright, I see.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you follow this link you can see this year's molting contest. Yours is a gentle molt, would not have a chance to win.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...est-worst-chicken-molt-pictures-2022.1541327/

How long to get over a molt? It depends on the hen. Some are fast molters, that's the ones you see in that molting contest. Some are slow molters, you can't tell by looking at the that they are even molting they are that slow. Fast molters can be over it in a little over a month, some really slow molters can take five months. That's controlled by genetics. It's not about how fast they grow back, it's about how fast the feathers fall out. They can't grow back until they fall out.

Yours appears to be a pretty fast molter. I'd expect her to be over it in maybe 6 weeks or less from when she started. Fast molters are good, they get back to laying relatively quickly.