Molting, losing weight, won't eat treats

[miss_inscan]

One of my 2 girls, Henrietta, started to molt last week, her first time. So for the past few days when I let them out to roam she won't eat the BOSS that they usually love. She instantly starts to search for bugs and worms, but won't touch the BOSS. Bonny, the other girl, eats the BOSS like mad. Just last week Henrietta ate the BOSS and loved it.
Is this normal for a molt? She is feeling very light.

Barb

 

[tiki244]

What is the BOSS? Watch her poops and watch her carefully. Sounds like she still has an appetite though. They do get, some more than others, kind of sickly acting when molitng. Some are very light shy, can be very grumpy and irritable, and loss of appetite.

 

[CarriBrown]

See if you can get her to eat some scrambled egg or mealworms. The extra protein will help her during this difficult time. Sounds like she is going through a really hard molt. Poor thing.

 

[cjb]

I was told that they did not molt this time of the year. Is that true or not???

 

[CarriBrown]

Quote:
They generally don't but that's not always the case.

 

[AK_Button_Mama]

ok I have been trying to find out what molting is. could some one explain this to me? and is it nessecary? do they have to molt.... can it be prevented? if so is preventing it bad?


thanks!

 

[miss_inscan]

Quote:
I don't know much about molting, but every time she shakes she loses feathers. All of a sudden one day there were feathers all over in the coop. She even lost her one black tail feather.

 

[miss_inscan]

Quote:
BOSS=Black oil sunflower seeds

 

[CarriBrown]

Quote:
Molting is their way of replacing old feathers and it is a natural process that you can not stop and should not try to stop. The only thing you can do is help them through it by giving them a little extra protein and keep them warm if they happen to be molting during winter months.

miss_inscan- Sounds like she could be molting. When they molt, the coop will be covered in feathers (and you'll wonder what the heck happened!) and they will have bald spots on them. Loosing the long tail feathers is common and so is loosing all of the neck feathers. Molting is hard on them and their body so they may act sluggish or a little depressed. Since she won't eat her BOSS, try giving her scrambled egg or some cooked chicken as a treat to help her out. Soon, you will see little pin feathers coming in (those are new feathers starting to come in) and when they grow out, she will have beautiful new feathers.

 

[chicknhawaii]

I found this topic via a "molting" search and am glad to see that it's not only our Chick-Chick that's going through a molt at this point in the year. At first I thought a rat was getting to her since she's a Cornish X, she's not speedy and not prone to getting up on top of anything above ground.

Every time she shook, feathers would be all over the place. The yard is full of her white feathers!


Anyway, she won't eat treats either or she'll get all snotty about whatever I give her. She still "grazes" in the yard but eats less of her feed. Weird thing is she has a thing for avocado right now.

Her molt seems confined to her underside.