Losing Feathers

[CurrieChicken]

One of my cochins has been broody twice already since spring and I finally had to put her in a naughty cage to snap her out of it. That was a week ago and she quickly went back to hanging with the rest of the girls. Now she is losing feathers. It's July and this is her first "full year", she started laying in December. Could she be molting? Could this be brought on by poor nutrition during her broodiness? She refused to eat or drink hardly anything and had lost weight, which is why I finally removed her from the coop. Or can this be due to some illness?

 

[Judy]

They can go into a molt just from stress, and being broody is certainly a stressor, especially when they have lost weight that obviously. I'd increase her nutrition, particularly protein, as growing feathers uses a lot of protein. I personally feel they especially need some animal source protein -- a little tuna or canned mackerel, mealworms, a bit of the meat from some family meals, fish meal, etc. You might want to let her be with her flock as isolating her is a stressor in itself. You could take her aside maybe morning and night and give her an extra nutritious snack.