Went out to check on my hens this morning, and it liked they had a pillow fight. The bedding is pretty fresh, changed about two weeks ago, and there have only been about two feathers floating around in there. This morning there was a blanket of feathers from my Wyandotte. My first thought wasn't molt, but plucking. This has been an issue recently, but the much larger Wyandotte has not been a target. Is this sudden dropping of feathers a sign of molting? My hens are not quite one year old yet, I would guess about ten months. What triggers molting, rise in temperatures of increase in daylight hours? Why do these wretched idiotic birds have to decide to molt in the middle of February?
Probably molting. Since they were already feather picking, I'd sure add some protein, preferably animal protein. http://msucares.com/poultry/management/poultry_feathers.html
Sounds like molting...........looks like a pillow exploded and you start counting heads to make sure none are missing. Shorter daylight is what triggers molting, not temperature. Most will molt in the fall/winter, but I still have a few stragglers that are just now molting. (good thing too because they kept me in eggs while the others were out of commission - now the others have started back up and these few quit) I had more pullets molt this year than I've ever had before.
