Losing feathers in the winter

[Ponypoor]

The silly girl is likely broody. Do you collect eggs regularly? My silkies had a bad habit of going broody anytime an egg stayed in place longer than a day. Regardless of season.
Eta I've got one girl who desperately tried to hatch a clump of snow last year.

Yes I was wondering, I have had limited experience with hens, this time last year all I had was a cat and 4 naughty horses!

She has spent the last 2 nights in the nest box, tonight she is roosting tho... But yep when she gets in that nestbox she stays there for hours growling if I go near her. I collect eggs throughout the day, usually get about 3 to 6 a day depending on who is laying them, I will make sure to remove eggs from her. But now I am ok with her sitting in the box I am sure it's warmer for her rather than wandering the barn while it's sub zero!!

I guess feathers won't be back till she molts? If she is broody?

 

[Ponypoor]

We have 9 buff orps doing the same thing here in Kentucky winter. They have adequate coop and nice sized sanded pen. I did switch them from 16% organic layer back to their 18% grower about a month and a half ago when I noticed one hen losing a lot of feathers. I thought they might be feather picking from not enough protein. Especially since the weather had been wet and cold, and they weren’t out in their tractor regularly to get bugs and worms. I had also been giving them a cup and a half of scratch on days below freezing. In addition, i did a major coop clean ( even though I clean it regularly twice a month), used organic spray for mites in coop and on hens in case they were picking feathers because of cooties. Started putting Durvet’s vitamin supplement in their water 4 or 5 times a week in case they were vitamin A deficient. Also started giving them a can of mackerel mixed with their feed twice per week for extra vitamin A and protein. Started giving my balding hen Rooster Booster Cell every day for a week, then 3 times a week, then once per week. Note that I never really witnessed more than an occasional aggressive feather pull. My hen recovered, grew back her feathers, and things seemed to get back to normal for about 3 weeks. However, I have had feathers all over the pen for the past week now and they seem to be coming from most of my hens…vent area and around legs. We have had a lot of cold, dry weather, and they have been dusting a lot. Every time they do, I see more feathers. They are laying average of 3-4 eggs daily, some days even 5 or 6, despite winter light and conditions. They are active and seem happy. I have seen them occasionally picking each other’s butt feathers, but not anything out of the ordinary. I sprayed them all with Stop That Pecking spray earlier today. The only other thing I can think of is that they are bored or stressed by the recent weather extremes here. They ignore mirrors and toys unless the toys are food related. Food related toys result in competition and aggressive pecking They do enjoy the occasional head of cabbage, lettuce, etc. when placed in 2 separate hangers. It is hard to keep them entertained without introducing more food . I have never raised chickens on my own before. Just helped Granny. Could they just be molting early?

My niece's hens are like that. I thought boredom with them...

Keep us updated I am interested to know outcome.

 

[Ponypoor]

I don’t know what’s going on. Our four Buff Orpingtons have started to lose a bunch of feathers. Its winter here in Wisconsin. We feed them Kalmbach HenHouse Reserve. They are out of the elements. I’m at a complete loss as to why they’re losing feathers.

Wonder if bored and feather picking as someone else stated...

I am interested in your outcome keep us posted!

 

[Goatmum]

I should have said ours are 11 months old. They went through a big molt in the fall. Now, suddenly all four are are dropping feathers like crazy. I’ve looked them over, no sign of bugs. So I’m at a loss.

 

[Outer limit]

My niece's hens are like that. I thought boredom with them...

Keep us updated I am interested to know outcome.

Thanks for your response. I’m going to try setting their automatic door to open about 30 minutes earlier in the morning. It’s starting to get light earlier here, and thinking they may be getting bored and butt picking while they wait for the door to open. Never a dull moment lol.

 

[Outer limit]

I have 4, 14 week old chickies going through that first adolescent molt they do at that age. It mid winter here in Canada and I really feel for them. I have a cozy Coop heat panels they like to snuggle up to during the day. At night they either sleep in a nest box or snuggle up together.

They seem to be doing ok, but I make sure they r getting extra calories, and some scratch grain before going to bed.

Brrr. You have to be an expert to keep chickens in that kind of cold. Sounds like they are well cared for

 

[Outer limit]

I should have said ours are 11 months old. They went through a big molt in the fall. Now, suddenly all four are are dropping feathers like crazy. I’ve looked them over, no sign of bugs. So I’m at a loss.

The only things I could think of to check are if you are giving scratch or snacks that are lowering their protein and causing feather loss or picking, or if they are feather picking due to boredom. If they are eating the feathers, may be a low protein issue. Please keep us posted!

 

[Ponypoor]

Brrr. You have to be an expert to keep chickens in that kind of cold. Sounds like they are well cared for

Nope not even close! This time last year all I had was a cat and 4 very naughty horses

I bought 2 silkies in April and it all went downhill from there and now I have 9 hens, 1 rooster and the 4, 14 week olds.

I am learning fast tho! The feather lose thing is giving me grey hair!

 

[Outer limit]

Nope not even close! This time last year all I had was a cat and 4 very naughty horses

I bought 2 silkies in April and it all went downhill from there and now I have 9 hens, 1 rooster and the 4, 14 week olds.

I am learning fast tho! The feather lose thing is giving me grey hair!

lol it’s easy to get hooked on animals in general, especially if you are the nurturing type. I think I could mother just about anything except a snake. Even though I was raised around chickens, I had no idea how much I would enjoy raising my own baby chicks into adults. It’s their crazy personalities that make them so lovable! Hope we can both get this feather thing figured out!

 

[Outer limit]

I'll go you one better. I have three hens not yet one year old, and they are all dropping feathers like a blizzard when by all the rules of molt, they shouldn't be molting until next fall.

Chickens break molting rules all the time. A hen that waits two years until her first molt, check. A hen who takes over a year to complete molt, check. A hen who molts partially, then stops before all the feather are in, check. A hen who has giant bald spots and no signs of getting on with replacing the feathers even though it's mid winter and freezing, check.

The good news is that chickens still in some stage or another of molt and showing no signs of urgency in getting the feathers in will not freeze. As long as you feed enough calories, especially before roosting, enough body heat will be generated to keep the chicken warm. She will also uncannily position herself between two other warm bodies and syphon off some heat from her pals.

Thank you so much for sharing! The information on molting I’ve found in book form is very stringent and apparently a little unrealistic according to the chicken keepers on BYC.