Molt in January?

[jetrock]

Will hens molt in January? Of my 10 hens, 8 have lost most of their feathers on their backs before their tail feathers.
Our rooster is also fine. They are acting fine and I'm still getting 7-10 eggs a day out of the 10.
Or could this be picking at each other from winter inactivity? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Barnyard]

If your girls were molting then you wouldnt be getting to many eggs. They normally slack off laying until they are done molting. A few things come to mind here.

1) Your roo is doing his job quiet well and he is the cause of the feather loss...

2) You have some pecking issues going on. Could be that they are bored and picking on each other. Try hanging a cabbage from the top of the coop or run, so that they have something other than each other to pick on.

3) Mites...make sure you check them over really good. This also causes feather loss.

4) protein or vitamin defecency.


Hope this gives you a few things to check out.

 

[jetrock]

Thanks for the ideas. The mites are a definite no and I work in grocery and the girls get a lot of different produce scraps daily.
I think it is probably the pecking.

 

[saladin]

Chickens will moult whenever they want too.

I've had them moult in the dead of winter or the height of summer. The August/September deal is just a generalization. Oh, they can also moult more than once in the same year. saladin

 

[LynneP]

I have four out of twelve throwing feathers- no rooster, no pests. Just their time... egg production varying from 4-8. Everyone seems fine, just longing for spring...