Molting this time of year??

[mrsruzek]

Okay, so tell me if y'all think this sounds like molting or something else. My leader of the hen pack, who has always been the biggest and healthiest, seems to be molting. Her feathers are falling out like crazy, and she's starting to look rough. She's also losing feathers around her face. I can see her bare skin through the feathers she still has, and it looks a little red. I haven't found any mites on her. Is it normal for a hen to be molting this late in winter?? And for her skin to be red?

 

[DigMyChicks]

Okay, so tell me if y'all think this sounds like molting or something else.  My leader of the hen pack, who has always been the biggest and healthiest, seems to be molting.  Her feathers are falling out like crazy, and she's starting to look rough.  She's also losing feathers around her face.  I can see her bare skin through the feathers she still has, and it looks a little red.  I haven't found any mites on her.  Is it normal for a hen to be molting this late in winter??  And for her skin to be red?

I don't know if it's normal but I had 6 EE's that have been molting the last couple months and 3 of them have just started laying again. I have one EE that started molting about 2 weeks ago. Mine didn't have the red skin.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How old is she and did she molt during last fall? Some hens will have a partial neck molt in the spring.

 

[mrsruzek]

She's about 2 years old (I think). We've only had her for about 4 months, so I don't know what she did last year. She's a buff orp. Yes--her neck looks very bare--but she's still losing feathers all over.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Since you don't know about too much about her it's possible she hasn't molted yet. Some people use extra light in the winter which can mess up molting sometimes. This past year there were a lot of late molters, so I wouldn't be surprised to hear some are still doing it. You can tell the difference between a normal adult molt and partial by whether they molt the wings and tail feathers, these they only lose during a full molt. Molting can also happen after extreme stress and after being broody.

 

[DanEP]

My 2 year old leghorn is just finishing up from her molt, it happens. As long as she looks healthy She should be fine.