Molting twice in one season?

[texsuze]

One of my 6-yr old black australorps had a good molt back at the end of August. By October she was back to squatting for me and laying a few eggs a week (her usual). Now, in late Nov. she is blowing off feathers like a pillow fight. Every time she shakes, she dumps feathers, which seem to come from underneath the more external feathers. No large wing feathers or neck (cape?) feathers have come out this time around. Yet. She has stopped squatting and laying.

I'm 99.999% certain this is not external parasites, too. I'm not seeing creepy crawlies and coops were cleaned out this month; coops plus girls were treated with Elector PSP. My other 5 girls seem to have completed their molts at this point, but who knows who will kick in another session!

Is it typical for molts to be multi-stage like this, with egg-laying resuming in between 'sessions'? Anyone had similar experience with their girls? How old were yours when this happened?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

A lot of things can make a molt happen so it isn't impossible.

 

[centrarchid]

I have seen it several times now. Hens doing so are usually 2 or more years. Whatever is going on is not normal and it does not appear to be parasite induced. Feathers between the molts appear darker. My hens running loose do not do it. Some hens penned do. Those doing it tend to be in lay and may even be broody.

 

[aart]

Curious.... when the E PSP was applied in relation to molts?
Just a thought.... as it's something different new?

Never seen that happen here, but I don't keep my birds past 3y.

 

[centrarchid]

What does E PSP mean?

 

[aart]

What does E PSP mean?

....
I'm 99.999% certain this is not external parasites, too. I'm not seeing creepy crawlies and coops were cleaned out this month; coops plus girls were treated with Elector PSP. ....

 

[aldarita]

What does E PSP mean?

Elector PSP is 44% Spinosad use to kill mites

 

[texsuze]

The Elector PSP was applied about 10-12 days prior to my hen beginning this "second molt". My remaining 5 hens are not molting. No one is having any problems that I can see right now. It still looks like just a brand new molt, but I won't be re-treating hens with anything for a while. Plus, I like to plan any intervention (de-worming, ectoparasite mgmt, etc) when we have several days of good weather. I'll keep a watch on my girl to see how she comes through this situation.

Thanks for the input.

 

[achiekitty]

I have seen it several times now. Hens doing so are usually 2 or more years. Whatever is going on is not normal and it does not appear to be parasite induced. Feathers between the molts appear darker. My hens running loose do not do it. Some hens penned do. Those doing it tend to be in lay and may even be broody.

my EE IS OVER 3 years old and running loose all day. She molted earlier in the fall. Got her beard back (the beard gets pecked on and removed by another EE throughout the year). She laid huge, brown eggs for awhile. Dec 2nd was the last time. It’s now the 11th and she hasn’t lain any and I found feathers where she slept. She also shook herself several times and some feathers from her rear area came off.

 

[achiekitty]

my EE IS OVER 3 years old and running loose all day. She molted earlier in the fall. Got her beard back (the beard gets pecked on and removed by another EE throughout the year). She laid huge, brown eggs for awhile. Dec 2nd was the last time. It’s now the 11th and she hasn’t lain any and I found feathers where she slept. She also shook herself several times and some feathers from her rear area came off.