Molting questions.....

[cjeanean]

What exactly is molting??? I searched it online and got several different answers....something about fasting to start the molt and something else about a non fasting way....I dunno, I have no idea what they're talking about. From what I gathered it's not something I'll have to worry about until the chicks are like a year old but I'd like to have a heads up about it to know what to expect. How often is it supposed to happen?? Am I supposed to do something to stimulate it???? How long does it take??? I've also gathered that the chickens don't lay while molting, how long until they'll start laying again??? If anyone has some info I'd appreciate it, or a website link or something they can give me. Thanks!!!!

 

[kstaven]

Molting is just the natural process of replacing old feathers with new. Some chickens do a very gradual molt over weeks and others will go from fully feathered to half bald in a week. They could very well stop laying for a few weeks during this time.

No need or reason to try to induce it. Some commercial ops do induce it to get them back to laying faster, by starving them for a week. Nasty little process if you ask me.