Laying while molting

[Yard Hen Lady]

My golden sex link, Betty, is about 2.5 yrs. She started molting in late Oct last year and seems to be molting in sections rather than a full malt. She’s been molting her neck and head (around comb) for about two months. The other areas only took a few weeks each. I‘ve noticed she recently started molting her wings again. She is eating and drinking fine and getting along with the flock. She’s still laying, occasionally, about 1 egg a week. The shells are lighter in color than usual, but the egg shape is fine and nothing is wrong with the actual egg. I live in the Bay Area of CA and we’ve been experiencing extreme changes in weather patterns. I have one other hen and a pullet. The pullet is laying everyday, with an occasional miss day. The other hen, Wilma, a golden sex link, is about 2.5 yrs and is laying about 2 eggs a week. She was giving me more, but since the time change, her egg production decreased by about half. I got Betty and Wilma about a year ago and they were about 1.5 years old, so I was told. Betty was producing daily eggs until she started molting in October. Wilma did a complete partial molt in October last year. Since October, Betty’s egg production varies. Sometimes I’ll get 2-3 eggs a week, then she’ll go a week or two without producing any eggs. Is Betty’s molting behavior anything to be concerned about?

 

[Estrellathehen]

I had a very similar case with one of my chickens, too. She was also moulting heavily around her head and neck and mainly nothing else. She stopped moulting around 2 months after that, and she was fine. I think she will be okay, but i'd keep an eye on her just in case. I'm not really experienced in that area, maybe someone else has some better feedback?

 

[aldarita]

I would add protein to their diet. New feathers take a lot of protein from their system and so do egg production.