Molting at 8 months?

[l0vemychickens]

We have 7 hens and a rooster, and over the last few days I've noticed that a few of them appear to be molting, however everything I have read states that molting doesn't start until around 18months. We are in Maine and it has gotten quite cold over the last couple of weeks. I first noticed the rooster with some belly feathers that appeared scraggly looking and then, the chest of one of our Columbian hens. I immediately panicked as we had a bought of the northern fowl mite a couple of months ago. At the time the chickens and coop were treated with permethrin and responded well. After careful inspection I could not find any mites, the chickens are acting perfectly normal, and there is a slight slow down in egg production. I noticed today a bald spot on the neck of another hen that does not appear to have been pecked. Is there anything that I could be missing, or is this likely early molting?

 

[reeney]

I was reading if the chickens are not getting enough protein they will eat each other's feathers. If there is no obvious pecking from the rooster maybe up the protein to see if that helps. I used a couple of handfuls of dried meal worms once or twice a week.