Molting, less pooping?

[aart]

Well, they (my two younger hens, of which she is one) molted when they were six weeks old, then they molted when they became adults, right before they started laying.

Now it's fall, and isn't that when they are supposed to molt?

They don't become 'adults' until they are a year old...
....and did you see this about molts?

Juvenile molts are the ones they have as they grow from chickhood.
From the first set of feathers you see in the first 6 weeks that push the down out,
then one or two more before onset of lay(I seriously don't know if they grow 2 or 3 sets of feathers in this time)<scratcheshead>
Then the first full adult molt at about 18 months.
But sometimes a bird between ~7-12 months will have a partial molt their first fall/winter.

When I say she was broody, she was squawking and carrying on to get in the nest box. She would sit in there for hours. The other hens wanted to lay too and Barney wanted to be in there all day. They have access to four nest boxes but only want one. For the first couple of days during this behavior, she did lay, but sometimes she'd stay in the box until after dark. She exhibited the broody behavior where when I approached her on the nest she would screech and raise all her feathers. After I returned home from my trip, she was quiet and has been for the last week and a half. She's very vocal, generally, and especially when she was broody, but she's been quiet since I came home.

Hard to know if this was really broody or not. How log had she been laying prior to this behavior?

 

[oakhavenmama]

I didn't realize that their crops could be impacted and not look big. Barney is terrified of being handled, even though I had her since she was three days old. She's the most skittish of all my birds. Big Red, the RIR, had an impacted crop last spring and I had to massage it every morning and night. I've also been dealing with bumblefoot in four of my five hens. Soaking, wrapping, administering all kinds of concoctions, trying to heal them. It is slowly resolving. I read that chickens take about 10 minutes of your time a day, but not in my case!

 

[MissChick@dee]

Okay.. I just had to ask about the grass (couple of times) because long grass really balls up in the crop. Some food can pass around it and I thought maybe that could of been the culprit. And no took that pic with my iPhone....I got lucky that pose will probably never happen again in my lifetime lol.

 

[oakhavenmama]

They don't become 'adults' until they are a year old...
....and did you see this about molts?


Hard to know if this was really broody or not. How log had she been laying prior to this behavior?

The reason I think she was broody is she acted exactly like my little Brownie did. She went broody often. She would sit on the nest for days and put her hackles up when I'd take her off. She had been laying for a couple of weeks, maybe a month. I thought they became adults when they started laying. I forget how old they were when that second "molt" happened, but it was soon after that they started laying. Five months? The first molt was not a big deal, but it took them a long time to finish their second molt.

 

[oakhavenmama]

Okay.. I just had to ask about the grass (couple of times) because long grass really balls up in the crop. Some food can pass around it and I thought maybe that could of been the culprit. And no took that pic with my iPhone....I got lucky that pose will probably never happen again in my lifetime lol.

That is such a beautiful photo! You saw what my iPhone pics look like!

 

[coach723]

They have access to four nest boxes but only want one.

Sometimes if you 'seed' the nest boxes with fake eggs or golf balls, they will use more of them. They seem to like a 'used' box rather than an empty one. I use golf balls, they don't care, and I have much less fussing over the boxes.
How many feeders do you have? If she's being kept away adding a feeder or two spaced apart could make a difference and give her more access to feed.

 

[oakhavenmama]

Sometimes if you 'seed' the nest boxes with fake eggs or golf balls, they will use more of them. They seem to like a 'used' box rather than an empty one. I use golf balls, they don't care, and I have much less fussing over the boxes.
How many feeders do you have? If she's being kept away adding a feeder or two spaced apart could make a difference and give her more access to feed.

The fake eggs is a good idea, I will try it. I agree that she needs more access to feed. I have two hanging feeders, and I put their sprouts and fermented feed out in two pans, so there are four total places she can eat. One of the hanging feeders is out in the coop in the yard, and the other is on the patio, where they hang out mostly. When I bring their greens and meat out to them in the evening, I have to put her in a separate area to be sure she gets some. She's definitely high maintenance!

 

[Birdsong 82]

I keep 5 feeders spread out in 3 different locations in my run for 15 chickens. Just to keep the peace and helps ensure girls lower on the pecking order get their fair share. Some are up high and some low. Some on opposite sides of the run. Chickens are definitely high maintenance