Molting chicken

[Bessie Mae]

June is molting and I'm concerned about how red the area is. Is this normal?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It looks like a normal hard molt to me. How old is the bird.
It is a little early for molt by a couple months but it can happen any time of year.

 

[Bessie Mae]

It looks like a normal hard molt to me. How old is the bird.
It is a little early for molt by a couple months but it can happen any time of year.

This chicken is only about 5 months old. She is laying eggs. I'm not sure why she is molting. The whole flock I got her from was molting .

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Were they molting when you got them?
Molting this time of year with such a young flock can be attributed to lighting, nutrition or other stresses.
It's very unusual for a bird to continue laying eggs when molting but I imagine it may be possible with a bird that young.
It may have been a feeding issue or a deprivation of light with the previous owner if his whole flock was molting at this time of year.

 

[Bessie Mae]

Were they molting when you got them?
Molting this time of year with such a young flock can be attributed to lighting, nutrition or other stresses.
It's very unusual for a bird to continue laying eggs when molting but I imagine it may be possible with a bird that young.
It may have been a feeding issue or a deprivation of light with the previous owner if his whole flock was molting at this time of year.

The place where I purchesed June is a large dark warehouse, so that would make sense. She also hasn't stopped eating since we got her! New healthy life for June!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The place where I purchesed June is a large dark warehouse, so that would make sense. She also hasn't stopped eating since we got her! New healthy life for June!!

So perhaps next year she will molt at an appropriate time of year.

A dark warehouse makes sense. That will induce molt at any age or time of year.