Is this molting?

[conifermom]

We have a small flock of 4 hens. Three of them went through a hard molt through the fall, it was our first experience with molting! I don't believe our 4th, a RIR, ever did as we continued to get 1 egg/day. About 3 weeks ago my kids noticed that she was acting funny. Normally very loud and fast moving she was constantly puffed up, barely moving at all and missing several feathers from around her vent. Egg production also stopped. I looked her over thoroughly, no noticeable signs of bugs/mites or disease and monitored for signs of pecking, none noted. She eats, drinks and has normal stools. I added some elytes to her water and increased her protein. This seemed to perk her up and she is still alive but she is definitely still not her "normal" self for the past 3 weeks. Now the kids are worried because now she seems to be losing weight. She does feel lighter but I wonder if this is just from feather loss. Again, she is eating/drinking and normal stools. My suspicion is that she is going through a softer molt and just off from the rest of the flock's "schedule" but my kids are still concerned so I thought I would post for some additional thoughts.
P.S. She has always been the best layer in our flock and was the first to start laying. Is it true that better layers can molt later than the rest? Thanks!

 

[Basil G]

I've never heard the "better layers can molt later than the rest"
I know from personal experience my rescued BR has maybe molted 1 for me (we've had for almost 2 years) and she is an ok layer (then again she was rescued and the first few months of her life sucked, eating nothing but bread and lived in a cardboard box and never saw sun) I have NHRxBO mixes that are may be 3 or 4 years old and molt and lay lots
As for your hen's behaviour, I'm not sure. If the whole flock was doing this I'd say there may be a predator walking around scaring them (or the hen schizophrenic and thinks she is seeing predators. Hey I'm really open to chickens having crazy problems. I had one chicken that had asthma and now my bird that I use for showmanship stops breathing when I hold him. Then I have another 2 who won't leave the coop until the sun has gone down and the moon is out, vampire chickens?) If she is not going far from the nest and puffing up and stopped laying (as you said) maybe she's broody, but you said she drinks, eats, and dumps normally then probably not (trust me broody poop is not something pleasant and there is a difference)
You can definitely tell if she is molting by the pin feathers sticking out.