Molting hen walking sideways

[vantain]

So Winnie, having gone through the crop issues, and survived, is now in a full molt. For the most part, she seems to be doing ok, and her crop continues to be clear in the morning. While she has lost a lot of feathers in the last week, she seems to still be covered enough to survive the cold here in Minnesota. It’s been in the single digits above 0 for a few days, with nights dipping to about -9. To help keep her warm, I make sure she is roosting between the other two.

So now she is on problem number 3. Today, I noticed she is walking sideways a bit. I checked her over, and yes, she does have a LOT of emerging pin feathers. I did some searching on this forum, and a bit of googling. It seems that this can be related to molting, and that it may be the result of the pin feathers emerging from the skin, causing some discomfort. Other than this oddity, she is eating, drinking, scratching, grooming, and generally just being a normal chicken. The only exception to “normal”, is that she does appear to be uncomfortable, and occasionally stands or sits away from the other two from time to time. She is able to get up to the roost just fine.

Is there anything I should be concerned about, or check her for? Or, for everyone else who has experienced molting chickens, is this just par for the course? For the record, she is about 21 months old, and this is her first major molt.

 

[DobieLover]

So Winnie, having gone through the crop issues, and survived, is now in a full molt. For the most part, she seems to be doing ok, and her crop continues to be clear in the morning. While she has lost a lot of feathers in the last week, she seems to still be covered enough to survive the cold here in Minnesota. It’s been in the single digits above 0 for a few days, with nights dipping to about -9. To help keep her warm, I make sure she is roosting between the other two.

So now she is on problem number 3. Today, I noticed she is walking sideways a bit. I checked her over, and yes, she does have a LOT of emerging pin feathers. I did some searching on this forum, and a bit of googling. It seems that this can be related to molting, and that it may be the result of the pin feathers emerging from the skin, causing some discomfort. Other than this oddity, she is eating, drinking, scratching, grooming, and generally just being a normal chicken. The only exception to “normal”, is that she does appear to be uncomfortable, and occasionally stands or sits away from the other two from time to time. She is able to get up to the roost just fine.

Is there anything I should be concerned about, or check her for? Or, for everyone else who has experienced molting chickens, is this just par for the course? For the record, she is about 21 months old, and this is her first major molt.

I had a hen that behaved quite similarly. It's just discomfort. I was also told that she would grow in her feathers faster in the cold weather. I have no way to gauge that but she's just fine now. It's tough to watch.

 

[vantain]

I had a hen that behaved quite similarly. It's just discomfort. I was also told that she would grow in her feathers faster in the cold weather. I have no way to gauge that but she's just fine now. It's tough to watch.

Thanks. It’s nice to hear that others have seen this.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I have a 17 months old Barred Rock in a hard molt. . She's doing the same thing, walking sideways sometimes. She has pin feathers on her legs and I think it makes her uncomfortable while walking. She has no trouble getting upon roosts and she jumps down from roosts when I turn on the lights at 5 am and goes to the feeder. She has a good appetite. Its been cold here and if it's windy, I can find her in the coop. Feed and water are in the coop. GC

 

[aart]

I haven't seen the walking sideways thing, but they definitely can act a bit off during the molt.....lethargy, isolating, eating less... all normal.

 

[vantain]

The poor girls is a pincushion these days...doesn't want anyone near her. She looks so terribly uncomfortable. Thankful for daytime temps in the upper 20s to low 30s for at least the next week. Fortunately, she does seem to be growing them all in rather rapidly. I see more pin feather emerging daily, and many are quite long already.