Is this chicken just molting or something worse?

[bbowen]

My Barred Rocks are almost 2 years old. They've never really lost a lot of feathers at any given time. So when this hen started to lose hers I got concern. This morning, she was stumbling around like she was drunk and squatting like a duck. She's somewhat better with that now but still doing it. I'm going to try to post pics and a link to a video.

Thanks for any help.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/celestprof/sets/72157628053891194/

 

[Judy]

Looks like a hard molt to me. Sometimes it seems to affect them more than others, as in, making them feel bad. I'd give some extra nutrition -- and make sure she's eating and drinking.

 

[jjthink]

I have seen my little Ellie stumble like a drunk with a hard molt. Extra nutrition including extra protein, hand feeding (because they can be too loopy to eat enough on their own), keeping safe and warm and cozy with extra TLC gets them through.
JJ

 

[Judy]

Look here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=580968

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

My BO is molting. No where near as hard as yours. But I feed a scrambled egg each afternoon which she shares w/ her sister who is not molting. She had a very light appetite for about 5 weeks and now that she's really pushing out feathers, her appetite is finally picking back up and I don't have to separate her to feed her. She's getting enough food on her own.

 

[bbowen]

OK, thanks folks. I gave them all some scrambled eggs with flax meal and some dried mealworms. She's eating and drinking ok. I picker her up to try to check her out and she made one hell of a fuss screeching and kicking. So I let her be. They don't like to get picked up but they don't normally carry on like she did.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Yup, I remember one member -- actually I think it was speckledhen, a mod -- talking about how one of her lap chickens that normally loved being cuddled did NOT want to be touched during a hard molt.

 

[crawfordmama]

One of my girls is going through a really hard molt, and when I first saw her I wanted to cry. She was squatting and walking in circles and just plain miserable. Not my sweet little gal! Even though it stinks, it's kind of a relief to see that we're all in good company in the same boat.

 

[CHellmann]

My Barred Rocks are almost 2 years old. They've never really lost a lot of feathers at any given time. So when this hen started to lose hers I got concern. This morning, she was stumbling around like she was drunk and squatting like a duck. She's somewhat better with that now but still doing it. I'm going to try to post pics and a link to a video.

Thanks for any help.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/celestprof/sets/72157628053891194/

I know these are older posts but I wanted to ask if anyone can help. My 3 1/2 year old Rhode Island Red is molting hard. This is the first time she has molted this much, lots of bare spots and no tail feathers. She is stumbling around like she is is drunk as you posted but is pecking around for food, droppings normal and eating less but eating. How long does this last and is this really a symptom of the molting? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[ChickenMama Me]

my 7 year old barred rock just started doing the same thing. I cut up some fruit real quick and dropped some liquid B-Complex on ( about 4 or 5 drops) and within 30 minutes she was a little shaky but seemed back to her old self. She is going into a molt. As the day went on she got even better and is now fine