Molting in the winter?

[chickencutie]

I have an 8 month old roo who might be molting. this is our first time raising chickens so we're not sure what molting looks like. there's an area about 3in long and 2in wide on his lower back where the feathers are gone. it's kind of yellowish looking but doesn't seem to hurt him if i press on it. it's been there for a couple weeks but doesn't get bigger, worse, or better. im wondering- can young chickens molt in the winter?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Seems alot of chickens have been doing just that, I would check him over real good for lice and mites, then watch to see if you have a pecking problem from another chicken[ might be pecking out his feathers] Is the yellowish his skin? or a wound? Can you get some bluekote? it's a spray that will disquise the area thats bald and hopefully give him time to grow his feathers back.if it's feather picking. If you find mites or lice you'll need to treat all your birds and their coop also and then retreat in 10 days, offer more protein like yogurt, scrambled eggs, cheese, buttermilk lean meat to help .also they like mealworms.

 

[RhodeIslandRedFan]

It is possible your roo is molting. As Miss Lydia said so well, there are other causes of feather loss besides molting. Observe your roo closely as Miss Lydia suggested to see if there are any signs of lice, mites, or feather picking. The molting pattern varies from chicken to chicken. Some develop bald spots, some lose mostly all feathers, some lose hardly any so that it is not as obvious that they are in a molt. Do you see signs of pin feathers (new feathers growing in)? This might be a good sign that what you are seeing is molting. I've attached a link to another thread that contains pictures of molting chickens, and the pin feathers are easy to see.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=394556

Please keep us posted on what you observe!

 

[chickencutie]

Thank you both.

since he's hard to catch and we were away most of the day, i can't check him for mites til tomorrow but there was nothing obvious. the yellowish color appears to be his skin. he's the only roo and the dominant of all of them. the hens don't dare try to peck him.

so... it does kind of look like he has pin feathers. they just don't seem to be growing at all. i'll update tomorrow.

 

[chickencutie]

alright. there doesn't appear to be any type of bug, and since the others don't have any feather loss, i don't think it's due to a mite or anything. they are visible to the naked eye right? nothing i saw on the bald spot. some feathers have tufts starting to grow so hopefully he's just a wierd chicken that's molting now.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hopefully thats what it is. When mine had mites I checked them all the time for them and never saw them until they got on me, yuck they are very tiny and actually look like ting specks of pepper. They can pick them up from wild birds, You can get epernix and put 4 to 5 drops on their neck close to the skin as you can get, theres no egg withdrawl with it, but you can also use sevin or poultry dust. If you decide to treat them even if you don't see any be sure to clean out old bedding and treat the coop also then retreat all in 10 days. Epernix will also treat for worms. Except for round worms. Those pic of molting chickens looked pretty bad, so most likely thats what you dealing with. Keep us updated thanks.

 

[chickencutie]

ok thank you.

i'll recheck him and then all the hens and see what's up. btw- what breed is the chicken on your avatar? i have a hen that looks just like that but i was never able to find out what breed she is. they're very cute.

 

[Miss Lydia]

If you talking about mine she's a light Brahma hen with feathered legs, I think theres a light Sussex that looks alot like the Brahmas but no feathers on the legs. I love the Brahmas so sweet.

 

[chickencutie]

yes it's about your chicken.

and they are so sweet. mine likes to talk a lot when she's by me.

about my rooster- i checked him again, no bugs. and it definately looks like feathers are starting to come in.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Good so it's molt hooray!!