Molting - not eating but well

[My Three Chicks]

Two of my girls are hardly eating at all. They are in the middle of a hard molt. But they are very active and act normal otherwise. Do I just let them be? Or do I need to 'force feed' them somehow...syringe feed? I've been giving high protein treats but they are only mildly interested.

 

[RedHillChicken]

Mealworms and canned tuna for feather production. Don't force feed. How old are they?

 

[My Three Chicks]

Mealworms and canned tuna for feather production. Don't force feed. How old are they?

Ok. I really didn't want to force feed but was worried they weren't getting enough nutrition and calories.

I've been giving mealworm, sunflower seeds, and scrambled or hardboiled eggs

They are 3.5 years old.

 

[RedHillChicken]

Ok. I really didn't want to force feed but was worried they weren't getting enough nutrition and calories.

I've been giving mealworm, sunflower seeds, and scrambled or hardboiled eggs

They are 3.5 years old.

And keep their regular food available. Molting seems to be a bit disorienting to our chicks. What did they do previously when they molted?

 

[My Three Chicks]

And keep their regular food available. Molting seems to be a bit disorienting to our chicks. What did they do previously when they molted? didn't have an issuecwuth eating before.

My Olive Egger ate fine in the past.
My Speckled Sussex struggled last year. She was lethargic and wasn't eating and I had to syringe feed her for a bit. This year fortunately she's acting completely well. So wasn't sure what to do of anything.

 

[Shadrach]

Hens going off their usual food is it seems quite common.
If they are ranging hens then I've found they still eat enough going by the fullness of their crops at roost time but what they eat and why they choose what they do is a bit of a mystery.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...off-their-usual-feed-when-they-moult.1498056/

 

[RedHillChicken]

@U_Stormcrow might have some advice if they don't improve. Also Wyorp Rock is very knowledgable, as is Shadrach. Molting sometimes is a long process.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I don't force feed, and my management style (which I don't recommend for most) involves providing both high nutrition commercial mix briefly each day, and allowing them to free range forage acres of a biodiverse polyculture (meaning I have a lot of differing plant species, and who knows what insects) in a very forgiving climate all day long. They leave the hen house when they want and return to it (or not) when they feel like it. As result, its impossible to know how much any given bird is eating, or even the entirety of any bird's average diet. (I also have more predator loses than most would consider acceptable).

I rely on periodic culling and inspecting the internals to get a good sense of how my flock is doing nutritionally.

Molting is aided by increasing protein intake to aid feather replacement.

If all your birds stopped/greatly reduced eating, my first thought would be that you either had a change in feed (birds don't like change), or a problem with the feed (stored badly, usually prior to purchase, resulting in any number of potential "somethigns"), but if only one or two birds are doing it, that's likely not the issue.

I would lay off the sunflower seeds, they really aren't high protein, they are high fat. and I'm not fond of mealworms (better protein, still high fat - sourcing of them raises some concerns about what they might have been fed on). Eggs are fine. Good protein, good a/a balance. You could split a scrambled egg between the two birds every second or third day for the rest of their lives and have no serious concerns about imbalancing their diets. If you wanted to do so every day while they are molting and you are providing support, I know of no reason (other than cost) that would be cause for caution.

Sorry I can't add more. Poultry behavior is one of my weak areas. Poulty injury and illness, weaker still.

 

[My Three Chicks]

If all your birds stopped/greatly reduced eating, my first thought would be that you either had a change in feed (birds don't like change),

Oh shoot I think that's part of the problem. When most of them started molting I switched from Scratch & Peck 16% layer feed to their 18% layer feed. Thinking it probably was pretty much the same I didn't bother with a transition. But they are ALL (I have 6 hens) eating a lot less.
Can/should I just just switch back to their original 16% overnight? Gosh I hope now they don't want to eat that either after I confused them

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Stick with the new feed, or risk confusing them again.

and yes, transitioning feed car reduce Keeper-stress. Just remember that a healthy bird won't willingly starve itself to death. It may be obstinate for a few days, but if the food has nutritional value, they will eat when hungry enough.

(and if your birds aren't producing eggs often, something I would expect of a 3.5 yr old, molting bird - near zero egg production - their daily nutritional needs are lower because they don't need to support egg production. In nature, they would mostly be doing this as winter approaches, when food would normally be becoming more scarce. By increasing the nutrition available, we are trying to "rush" the molt. You can't actually make it go faster, but by ensuring that dietary deficiency isn't source of delay, you ensure it doesn't go slower.)