Molting Question???

[ZepChick]

Hi guys ~ I did do a molt search on the forum, but didn't see the info I was looking for. Does anyone know if it is normal for a hen to act a little strange when first hitting molt (her first)? I have a 1 year old white Polish (who is my special girl), who all of a sudden has decreased appetite. I have brought her inside to monitor her more closely, but she almost seems depressed? Like she is off by herself, and not hanging with her other Polish friend, or any of the other girls. She has no signs of infection or illness, and I am not sure if she has stopped laying as she has been out with the other girls until today. Since some of our other chickens are molting, I am thinking she might be starting.....is there a molting "behavior" that anyone has noticed?

Thanks!! Kim

 

[MikasGirl]

I would like to add to my mom's post that her best friend that she always hangs out with kind of left her behind and ever since then she has been kind of depressed.

 

[CharlotteLouise]

Hi, I don't know if this is your girl's problem, but a few years ago I got two hens who were about 4 years old and they molted each November, and they lost about a fourth or a third of their feathers, stopped laying eggs, and almost stopped eating, which at first scared me. But they were still their normal happy selves. Then in January they started regaining their feathers and laying sporadically and eating again.

My current batch I got last year and they were a year old then. This winter the New Hampshire red molted a little bit, laid less and ate less, but nothing like my previous two. My other two, Barred Plymouth Rocks, didn't do a molt but did lay and eat less, and seem to lose a feather here and there.

Hopefully your girl is just experiencing her first molt. Age and breed seem to make a difference in my experience.

By the way, I don't know if I set the time stamp right. It's 8:24 here in California.

 

[seminolewind]

Yes, normal. My alpha hen molted months ago. She lost weight, lost appetite, didn't come for treats, would run from me when she used to be under foot. She stayed to herself and stayed way behind the flock. It was sad, really. Then she came out of it. I don't remember how long it took. But she worried me. She's back to her old normal self, jumping on my let occassionally and a food hog.

 

[MikasGirl]

Is there a chance that she could be egg bound?

 

[MikasGirl]

I just read Old Rebel's entire post and I am freaking out right now. This can't be internal laying can it?