Molting? Weather? Ideas?

[france]

I have 6 EE's and an orpington who are all 18 months old. I have not seen an egg from any of them since the end of Aug.
Is this a normal length of time for molting? We have had feathers everywhere since then, though only my Orpington has been walking
around looking like a plucked chicken. The others seem to just look a little ratty. Now that it is getting cold and dark egg laying will stay low right?
Or should I worry about something else?

Meanwhile my silkies who are the same age, as far as I can tell have not molted at all. No extra feathers in their little coop, nothing. I get 2 eggs 4 out of 5 days from them.
Will they molt? The same with my polish.

 

[Cat's Coop]

I have the same situation. I went from 18/day to 2/day. I did notice there are alot more feathers in the coop and run but they don't look too bad. If might be their first molt. I think maybe the weather change AND shorter days has affected them.

 

[chicmom]

You're exactly right, your girls are molting. I'm going through that too right now. It's probably true that different breeds molt at different ages.

Molting can take a while.....you could maybe switch them to a higher protein feed, to help them grow back their feathers, since feathers are mostly made of protein. Some people give their hens some canned cat food, for extra protein.

Makes no sense to me as to why chickens molt when it's COLD out! Isn't it like running around in the cold without your clothes on? LOL I think the shortened daylight hours is what triggers the molt.

I have a few hens that are also the same age, and for some reason they're not molting either. I guess it all depends on the individual breed.

 

[Cat's Coop]

It makes sense that the shorter days triggered their first molt. I have 5 different breeds and they are all going through the same thing! I hope they get over it quick. They need to earn their keep!

 

[ams3651]

I was just wondering about this. At first I thought they were picking on the roo then noticed one of my EE hens looks pathetic. Seems every year not everybody molts and some are worse than others. And yeah, why do they do it when its 28 degrees out at night. Ugh.