Molting at 8 months?

[vantain]

Is it normal to be molting at 8 months of age? I thought that pullets don’t molt until after their first year, so second winter?

I have one pullet, out of 8, that is molting. It doesn’t appear to be a full molt, as she doesn’t have any bare spots. Most of the feathers I have found were on and around where she has been roosting overnight. They are the small belly feathers. I do see pin feathers emerging on her belly, and her neck. I also noticed some emerging on her head, so she is a little scraggly there.

I’m a bit worried that this is something more. I looked her over for parasites, but found none. She has not been going to roost with a full crop like the others. She’s not empty, but it is not as full and packed with food like the others. She does poop through the night, just not as much as the others. Her crop is empty in the mornings.

I have seen her eating and drinking. One thing to note... I changed their feed to pellets recently. Most of the flock seemed ok with it, but this one hen seems to really hate it. She is blind though, so maybe the difference is enough to bother her.

Just looking for thoughts about this.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Sounds like she's going through a light molt.

 

[Cindy in PA]

I never ran into this until 3 years ago when 1/2 my 8-9 nine month old flock went into molt right before Thanksgiving. Never figured out why, but it appears that it does happen.

 

[aart]

Some pullets will have a partial molt their first fall/winter.

 

[vantain]

Some pullets will have a partial molt their first fall/winter.

Right now, she seems to be the only one molting.